The Huntress
by SilverKitsune2017
Summary: Beautiful, graceful, and deadly. That's Sasuke Uchiha thought as he watched the huntress from a safe distance. She was a lion neko, like him. Sadly, Hinata already belonged to a large pride that wouldn't take kindly towards him trespassing. So he had been content just to admire her, until some scientists discovered the existence of hybrids. That was when everything changed.
1. Chapter 1

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** This is a lion neko story with Hinata x Sasuke as the main pairing. There will also be other kinds of hybrids involved. Hybrids are animals with human features or humans with animal features, depending on how you want to look at it. If any of that bothers you, you might want to turn back now. For those of you still here, I hope you enjoy this story and reviews are always appreciated.

 **Neko Forms:** The first form is that of your everyday lion or lioness. The second form is mostly humanoid in appearance. The main difference is that they have lion ears, tail, and retractable claws.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing and make no profit off of any of my stories.

Chapter 1

 _Beautiful, graceful, and deadly._ Those were the thoughts flowing through Sasuke Uchiha's mind as he watched the huntress from a safe distance. She was in her animal form and leading some pride females on a hunt. Today's prey was zebra.

Sasuke was a lion neko. That mean that he was a human with lion features or a lion that could turn into a mostly humanoid creature, depending on how you looked at it. His own kind couldn't always agree on what the proper interpretation was. To Sasuke, it mattered little how one looked at it. It didn't change what you were.

"I GOT IT!" The huntress cries out as she clamps her jaws around the zebra's nose and tries to grapple it to the ground.

That was always a dangerous move. Zebras had powerful legs and those hooves could crush your skull, if they got a good kick in. Though it was always smart to suffocate your prey, when you got the chance.

"Good job, Hinata!" Another lioness says as she races behind the slightly larger one and jumps on the zebra's back.

Hinata. So that was the huntress's name. Sasuke liked the way it rolled off his tongue. It didn't particularly matter though. She had a pride. A large one with several adult males.

Eventually, the lionesses manage to wrestle the zebra to the ground. That meant that it was over for the poor beast. Once your prey was on the ground, it was highly unlikely that it was going to get back up again. This was especially so when you had multiple lionesses tackling it.

"Sister! Look!" Sasuke hears the smaller lioness cry out.

Sasuke looks to see what caught the female's attention and his eyes widen. It was a pack of hyenas. There must have been at least thirty of them. Maybe forty.

Lions and hyenas whether they were hybrids or normal animals, reviled each other. They were natural enemies because they were both predators and pack animals. The main advantage that hyenas had over lions was their numbers. It was rare for a lion pride to become as large as a hyena pack, but lions were much bigger. Battles between the two species could turn deadly.

"Damn it." Sasuke growls under his breath.

The Hyugas were a large pride with a dozen adult females. Sasuke only counted ten of them at the moment though. He assumed the other two had stayed behind to watch the cubs, along with the pride males.

That meant they were outnumbered. Badly. The smartest option for them would be to retreat, but it was likely the hyenas would pursue them. Sasuke frowns as he realizes there was a very real possibility that some of the lionesses could be killed.

"RUN!" Hinata shouts at the other lionesses as they take off.

As predicted, the hyenas chased after them. Sasuke roars and springs into action. Lionesses were faster, but lions were stronger and a lot bigger. The sheer size of them and power of their roar was sometimes enough to make hyenas think twice, if there were enough of them.

Sasuke was a massive lion by anyone's standards, but he was especially large for his age. The fact that he had sharp fangs and a raven black fur coat probably also had something to do with the very shocked looked on the hyenas faces. Black lions were rare. He doubted they had seen one like him before. He roars again, baring his mighty jaws at them as he mock charges at the hyenas.

"Go! I can buy you some time!" Sasuke snaps at the lionesses.

"We'll come back for you! We'll get help!" Hinata cries out.

They look at him uncertainly for a second. If they left him behind, they would likely be leaving him behind to die. He was a magnificent lion, but no single lion would be able to defeat a pack by themselves. The best that the raven furred lion could hope for was to escape after they did.

"I can handle it!" Sasuke assures them and the lionesses all take off running.

"Oh really? You look pretty tough, are you really stupid enough to think that you can take all of us?" One of the hyenas sneers at him.

Sasuke smirks. He really hated hyenas, but on the plus side they tended to have one-track minds. While they were harassing the lionesses, they didn't realize they were now in baboon territory.

Baboons might have a comical connotation to humans, but anyone that lived in the wild knew the truth. They could be quite dangerous, especially when you got a band of them. Sasuke's roar had alerted them to the fact something was going on and they came to investigate.

"Yo, Sasuke. Are these fleabags bugging ya?" Suigetsu asks.

He was a baboon hybrid. While Sasuke and Suigetsu had an interesting relationship to say the least, it was generally an advantageous one. Sasuke thought the baboon leader was annoying, but he could be useful. He was particularly useful in times like these.

"Yes, they are. They were harassing a bunch of women." Sasuke says.

Suigetsu shakes his head. While he certain possessed an unconventional moral compass to say the least, the one thing that he wouldn't tolerate was someone picking on women. Well except for Karin and even then he was the only one allowed to harass her.

"Well that's not very nice of them. Ladies, do you have anything you would like to say about this?" Suigetsu asks the females in his troop.

Apparently, the women did have something to say about it. Suigetsu's group was large, numbering over a hundred. About half of them were female and rather irritated now. That was bad news for hyenas as the ladies sprung into action and charged towards their foes.

The men blink. After a minute, they decide to join in on the "fun" and finish chasing off the hyenas. It was quite the spectacle.

"Never a dull moment with you, is there?" The violet eyed hybrid inquires.

"Of course not. I wouldn't want you to get bored. I'm going to clear out though. The Hyuga Pride will likely be back with reinforcements soon." Sasuke says.

Suigetsu nods sympathetically. Lion prides were considerably less complicated than a troop of baboons, but they had their own hierarchy. Put quite simply, pride males wouldn't be too happy to see another adult male who wasn't a Hyuga. They'd likely assume Sasuke was trying take over their pride.

"Yeah. Alright. You better head off. This was fun though. I imagine everyone's going to be feeling pretty badass after chasing them off." Suigetsu says and Sasuke heads off.

Meanwhile with the Hyuga Pride, the lionesses make their way back to the rest of their groups. Hiashi blinks when he saw the panicked expression on their faces. Something must have gone horribly wrong.

"What happened? Did someone get killed during the hunt? Is someone injured?" The proud lion asks.

"A pack of hyenas stumbled upon us. There were so many of them! None of us were killed or injured. A lone male saved us. Hurry! We have to go back! He's all alone! They'll kill him!" Hinata pleads.

Hiashi was torn. He didn't like the thought of endangering his pride needlessly, but honor dictated that he couldn't just leave the rogue to his undoubtedly horrific fate. He had for whatever reason, come to the defense of his family. The nomad didn't have to do that.

"Very well. I want four lionesses to stay behind and hide the cubs in the safe places we have agreed upon. Do not leave there until we return. If the hyenas scatter, I want you all to be in safe places." Hiashi bellows as the rest of the pride darts off to offer assistance to the mysterious male.

When they got there, all the Hyugas looked around in confusion. The hyenas were gone, though their scent was still fresh. Hiashi could smell that a male lion had clearly been there, but he was also gone. Perhaps even more baffling was the fact that he could smell that a troop of baboons had been all over the place and very recently.

"Do you think he escaped when the baboons showed up?" Hanabi asks her father.

"I think that's the most likely scenario. I don't see a body and surprisingly, I don't scent any blood. I think that he made it. Come. Let's go home before they come back." The Hyuga Patriarch states.

Hinata nods and the lionesses follow him back. Soon enough they are reunited with those that had stayed behind to watch the cubs and of course the cubs. Everyone engages in some reassuring fluffing.

"Father, there was something strange about that nomad. He had black fur. Black like the night sky." Hanabi says.

Hinata had noticed that as well. At the time, she hadn't commented on it though. Everyone's lives had been at stake. Fur color had seemed a rather trivial thing in comparison. Now that everyone was safe though, well she was just as curious as her sister.

"Black lions are extremely rare, but they aren't unheard of. Finding one is like finding a needle in a haystack though. The Uchiha Pride is famous for producing a lot of them though. They live many days travel from us, but I suspect he may have been an Uchiha cub. He was likely driven out when he reached adulthood, as most young adult males are." Hiashi reasons.

The Hyuga woman nods in understanding and shifts back to her humanoid form. She had long midnight blue hair, lavender eyes, creamy skin, a tawny colored tail, and matching ears. In her human form, she wore a impala furred dress that came to her knees.

When males came of age, they were generally driven out from their prides. That or they took them over. This seemed cruel but there was a reason for it. It kept the prides from becoming too closely related. There was also another pleasant benefit. If the young males were able to survive and take over prides of their own, it spread out the original pride's genes.

"I think we should try to find him. He did risk his life for a pride that he had no ties to. Black lions are also as you said rare. It would be quite the status symbol. Did he look healthy, Hinata?" Neji asks.

Neji was her cousin. He was also one of their adult pride males. In addition, he was one of the few males that actually liked hunting. Most just preferred to let the females handle it, if given the option in exchange for offering protection to the pride.

"Very healthy. He was big! The man looked well fed for a nomad." Hinata replies.

Hiashi frowns. It would be the honorable thing to offer him a place in the pride. Still nomads could be unpredictable. The man was crazy enough to chase after a pack of hyenas on his own. He might just be suicidal enough to try to take over their pride, despite the fact they already had several males.

"I think we shall see how things unfold. For now, let us all get some rest for the night." Hiashi says and the pride of lions do exactly that.

Elsewhere Sasuke finds a cave to stay in for the night. After checking to make sure that it wasn't already occupied, he trots inside. This would do nicely. The rains should be starting soon and it would be rather unpleasant to get drenched in them.

He knew that Itachi would find him soon enough. He had left scent markers for him. Even if he didn't, the elder Uchiha would have anyway. Itachi was an excellent tracker.

"He better hurry though, if he doesn't want to get drenched." He murmurs to himself.

Itachi was his elder brother. Despite the fact that he was six seasons older, the two of them had formed a coalition. His big brother had carved out a range that was close enough to the Uchiha Pride that when Sasuke was finally disowned, his baby brother had been able to find him.

Sasuke knew that had been something of a gamble for Itachi to spend that many seasons so close to his old pride. It was a wonder that Fugaku hadn't thought that Itachi wasn't hoping to challenge him later on. Maybe he had and Mikoto had intervened. Their mother had always been a kind lioness.

"I heard that. Foolish little brother, do you not think that I can't feel the rains coming on?" Itachi asks in amusement as he prowls into the cave, while dragging an antelope in his jaws.

Itachi was still in his animal form, like Sasuke. While Sasuke had raven black fur, Itachi had a dark smoky gray fur that was almost black. His eyes were crimson red and Sasuke's were ruby red. The Uchiha Pride was famous for producing black lions with red eyes for good reason.

"Itachi!" Sasuke greets him happily by fluffing him.

Itachi smiles and fluffs his brother back. The younger Uchiha had only been thrown out of the Uchiha Pride last year. He was barely mature, but already so massive.

The elder lion was almost certain that by the time Sasuke finished growing, his animal form would likely outweigh him by at least ten pounds. Itachi's animal form had always been more built for speed, stealth, and agility than anything else. Sasuke was fast, but he was also going to be a very large lion. (Well he already was, but he was going to get even bigger soon.)

"Sasuke, why did I smell a suspiciously high number of baboon, hyena, and lion scents all in one area on my way back from the hunt?" The smoky furred lion inquires.

"Oh that. Well it's a very long story." Sasuke says sheepishly as he cleans his paw and tries to look as innocent as possible.

"Well I have nothing but time. I think we should eat this in our human form. The meat will last us longer that way." Itachi says as he shifts back and drags a wooden "door" over the entrance of the cave.

Damn. Sasuke wasn't going to get out of this that easily, it seemed. His brother wasn't going to be too happy about what he had done. The younger Uchiha realized that he was damn lucky to be alive at this point.

"There were some lioness nekos out hunting. A pack of hyenas stumbled on them. I chased them off while they escaped. Suigetsu heard my roar and came with reinforcements. It was funny to watch the ugly mutts get their tail handed to them by a troop of baboons." Sasuke says.

"That was very gallant of you, but very foolish. You could have been killed." Itachi scolds him.

"I know, but I couldn't just leave them. They are lion nekos like us. Standing idly by and watching members of our own kind die is wrong." Sasuke argues.

Itachi begins the process of preserving the meat from his kill and storing it. He was grateful for this task. It gave him an excuse not to respond to Sasuke right away. He needed time to collect his thoughts.

On one hand, Sasuke had done the right thing. He had probably saved the lives of several lionesses. On the other hand, he had done a very stupid thing. They could have all died together.

"Don't do anything that reckless again. I want to call you my foolish little brother, not my dead little brother." Itachi says as he pokes Sasuke on the forehead.

"OWE! You always do that?! Why do you do that?!" Sasuke demands.

"Because it annoys you and it shows that I care. Oh and because I can. Now help me salt this meat and prepare dinner." Itachi instructs him.

Sasuke grumbles about annoying older brothers and proceeds to help Itachi prepare dinner. When given the choice, he preferred his food cooked. He liked eating in his human form because food generally tasted better and it lasted longer. Itachi was the same way.

"So was it the Hyuga Pride?" Itachi asks.

"Yes, it was. They were hunting on the border of their territory." Sasuke explains and Itachi nods.

Somehow he doubted that his brother's actions were completely motivated out of heroism. He was aware that Sasuke had a soft spot for one of the lionesses in the Hyuga Pride. It would have been sweet, if it wasn't so risky.

The Hyugas were a large pride, with several adult males. Itachi wasn't entirely certain that he and Sasuke could defeat them. It was a coin toss and that was before considering that there were a few cubs who were nearly grown. They might join the fray as well.

"I'm thinking we shall have stew tonight. What do you think?" Itachi asks.

"That sounds like a fine idea to me." Sasuke agrees as they continue preparing their meal.

Itachi hadn't told Sasuke that he knew Sasuke liked the pretty female. He didn't want to embarrass him and the younger lion would only deny it anyway. He was hopeful that they would eventually find a smaller pride that they could take over with ease and maybe his foolish little brother would find another lioness that would catch his eye.

Oh the elder Uchiha liked her well enough. He had never actually met the lioness before. Still Sasuke had excellent taste.

She was young, a good huntress, and easy on the eyes. It was just she belonged to a very established pride that would be difficult to take over. Other than that, she'd probably be a purrfect Mate for his foolish little brother.

"Food's done." Sasuke says with a smile.

Unbeknownst to any of the lion nekos at the moment, Jirayia and Kakashi had just arrived with their research team. Honestly, the silver haired man thought that his mentor might be losing control of his marbles in his old age. He couldn't actually believe that they were going to find a race of cat people, could he?

"Jirayia, how did you manage to talk the department into funding this little project?" The masked man inquires in amusement.

"Simple. I told them that we wanted to study the big cats of Africa. I just failed to mention that we will also be looking for nekos." The white haired scientist replies merrily.

Kakashi shakes his head. Jirayia was Jirayia. Once he got an idea into his head, there was simply no reasoning with him. He would never give up.

"That was quite clever of you. I do hope that you won't be too disappointed when we don't find these nekos. That was probably just some locals messing with you. I think that if a feline race existed, we would have discovered them long before now." The biologist reasons.

"Pft there are lots of undiscovered species. Besides, if the legends are accurate there is a very good reason why we haven't found them before. The nekos can turn into regular lions. No one would have ever known the difference. That's probably why they were able to hide for so long." Jirayia says.

Kakashi still thought his former professor was nuts, but he nods his head in "agreement." The man was stubborn to the end. Oh well. The chance to study the big cats of Africa was too good to pass up.

He'd let Jirayia chase after his fairytale while he did real research. Oh and maybe he'd be able to finish the other man's latest book while they were here. Big cats tended to be rather elusive. There would likely be countless hours of waiting and searching before they found anyway. Why not kill time by reading a good book?

"I hope you know that he thinks you are just as crazy as I do." Tsunade says.

Tsunade was a doctor. She came along with their research group in case anyone got hurt. That and Jirayia admired the view. Who didn't love the sight of such an ample bosom?

"The only difference between being crazy and a genius is whether or not society has caught up with you yet." The white haired man insists and Tsunade rolls her eyes good-naturedly.

She and Jirayia had known each other since middle school. Given that both of them were now in their fifties, that was a long time. The man would never change. He always had his head up in the clouds.

"That's just something crazy people tell themselves to make themselves feel better. Hurry. We better get back to the hotel. I saw on the forecast that it's supposed to start raining heavily tonight." She warns him.

"You're right. Alright, everyone. Let's move out." He says and the group heads off.

Danzo was amongst their number. While the aging scientist pretended to scorn Jirayia's fanciful notions on the outside, he actually agreed with him. It was possible that another humanoid species had evolved. If that was indeed the case, they would all be famous and made rich beyond their wildest dreams when they discovered nekos.

Of course, that was assuming that the team played their cards right. He didn't think that they would for a second. Most of them were academics with the best of the intentions. That was all very well and good, but it wouldn't increase any of their bank accounts. No, he would have to be there to ensure everything was handled properly.

"How long of a journey is it back to the hotel?" He asks Tsunade.

"Hmm not that long. I'd say we should be able to drive there in about fifteen minutes." The blonde replies.

Danzo nods in acknowledgement that he had heard her. He wanted to rest. His arthritis was acting up again. It always did just before it rained. In his youth, he had thought that was just a story old people made up. Now he knew it was true.

His pain reminded him of one critical fact. Danzo was now firmly in his twilight years. He needed to do something quickly, if he was going to leave behind a lasting legacy. Something like discovering a new species would do very nicely.

A few minutes later, they arrive and check into their rooms. Danzo was in a considerably better mood once he could rest on his bed. Now, he just had to figure out how to find the cat people. Then everything would be perfect, but where to begin?

"I suppose the best place to start is to check habitats that are frequented by the cats, particularly lions. The locals do claim to have seen lions turn into men and vice versa." He muses to himself.

So immersed in his own thoughts was he, that Danzo didn't notice that a hawk had just flown by his window. A very special hawk. His name was Jugo and he was another hybrid.

Instead of turning into a cat or possessing feline features, he could transform into a hawk and possess avian ones. He had overheard the old man talking about checking out lion habitat. It looked like he was going to have to warn Sasuke.

Occasionally, humans would visit the lands ruled by hybrids. All hybrids knew that there was a very real risk that one day humans might discover them. So no matter what your species was and what your issues with other species may be, you were required to inform everyone when humans were coming.

That's exactly what Jugo did. He soared back to the center of the lion territory and let out a mighty call. The call could only mean one thing. An emergency meeting was necessary.

It didn't take long for many hybrids to start filing in. Everyone recognize that distress signal. No one would willingly make a false alarm. So the odds of this being merely a drill were low. People who "cried wolf," were punished severely.

"I was just flying around, when I overheard a man talking about visiting the lion habitat. I think it's another team of big eyed humans." He explains.

Big eyed humans was what their people called scientists. The name had stuck because they usually used binoculars. Of course the hybrids, had no idea what binoculars were and naturally just thought them to be large eyes.

"Thanks for warning us. We shall take the proper precautions." Hiashi says and there were choruses of agreement.

It was impetrative that humans never know that they existed. That could only mean bad things. The hybrids who had had a few run ins with humans were generally not eager to repeat the experience. Humans were the ultimate hunter. No matter your place on the food chain, you could easily become the prey when they were involved.

"You're welcome, Lord Hiashi." Jugo says.

He frowns when he didn't see Sasuke anywhere nearby. Maybe that was to be expected. His friend only had Itachi in his coalition. He likely wouldn't risk going to a big meeting like this, even with the rules in place. One of the major rules was no one could attack anyone else while a meeting of this nature was going on. It was a rule that had served them all well over the years.

"I'm going to leave now and try to warn those that couldn't attend the meeting." Jugo says as he flies off as he flies off to warn Sasuke and Hiashi nods approvingly at his decision.


	2. Chapter 2

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I decided that there was enough interest to keep this story going. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2

Jugo had always been a fast flier, even by hawk standards. That was a fact that he was very grateful for. This was especially the case today because he had to warn the Uchiha brothers about the big eyed humans.

"Sasuke? Itachi?" He calls out once he flies into a cave.

"Jugo! What are you doing here?" Sasuke asks as he looks up from his meal and Itachi does the same.

The hawk hybrid sighs in relief. He had found them. There was still time to warn them about the humans. Thank goodness.

"You didn't attend the meeting, but there is a group of big eyed humans nearby. They are going to be studying big cats. So you and the other feline hybrids are at particular risk. We all are though." The hawk says.

Sasuke and Itachi blink. This wasn't unheard of, but it was always unsettling to say the least. Every hybrid's worse fear short of starving to death was that humans would find out about them.

Humans couldn't even play nicely with each other based on silly things like "fur" color. What hope did the hybrids have of living beside them peacefully? Almost none. That was why every hybrid tried to steer clear of humans.

"Thanks for letting us know. We'll steer clear of them. We always do." Sasuke assures him.

"Yes, we do appreciate you going out of your way like this. The rains are about to start. Perhaps you'd prefer just to wait them out in the cave with us. We do have food and some water." Itachi offers.

"That'd be nice. Thank you." Jugo says with a smile as he settles into the cave with the Uchiha brothers.

Scarcely an hour later it begins to pour. The water gave life, but when the rains came they were almost always intense. It could be both a relief or an annoyance, depending on your view point when they started. Most creatures tried to take cover, though some preferred to bask in the sweet, cool relief of the sky water.

"Was the Hyuga Pride there?" Sasuke asks Jugo.

"Yes. Almost everyone was there. Why do you ask?" The other hybrid inquires as he shifts into his human form.

Really, it didn't matter how many times Sasuke saw Jugo's humanoid form. It was still stunning every time. The man was huge. Sasuke was by no means small at six feet tall, but Jugo towered over him. He was probably around seven feet in height.

"Some days, I'm surprised you weren't an elephant hybrid." Itachi notes in amusement.

"Yeah. I get that a lot, but I'm happy being a hawk. I can fly. Elephants can't do that." The gentle giant replies with smile.

Itachi nods. It must be incredible to fly. He enjoyed being a lion neko, but the gift of flight was not something that he would ever possess. It was a pity. Oh well. He was an apex predator and you can't have everything. He could live without being able to fly, even if it would have been nice.

"I was just curious. They are the closest pride to us and you know species loyalty." Sasuke says, before returning to his meal.

"Ah I see. Well their pride seems to be flourishing. They have a new liter of cubs and some of their older cubs are almost grown. Lots of females too. Though there are lots of males. I probably wouldn't recommend you two trying to take over it. Was that why you were really asking? You want to take over the Hyuga Pride?" The orange haired man inquires gently.

Sasuke did want to take over the pride with Itachi. It would be nice to have an actual pride again. There was definitely safety in numbers and lions were social animals by nature. Naturally, he wanted to be part of a pride with Itachi.

Two lions wasn't really a pride. If they managed to join one, maybe they could both have some cubs. That was another powerful drive for male lions (and to varying degrees other male hybrids.) The desire to have lots of children.

"We aren't suicidal enough to attack the Hyuga Pride. If we won, we'd still likely be severely injured. It'd be an ideal pride to take over, if there weren't so many adult males though." Sasuke says with a sigh and Itachi nods sympathetically.

The savannah could be a harsh mistress. Realistically, it was unlikely all of your cubs would survive. That was why it was better to have a lot of them. The more cubs you had, the higher the chance that at least some of them would make it to adulthood.

"He's right. The odds are not in our favor of winning and if we did pull off an upset, one or both of us would be critically injured. That is hardly the way to inspire confidence amongst the lionesses." Itachi muses.

By cat standards, lions were doting fathers to their cubs. They stuck around and made sure the pride was safe. Lions also played with them. Allowing the cubs to nip at them in their animal forms and pretending it hurt. This was to encourage them, of course.

Games such as that made the cubs feel more confident. They would need that confidence one day when they began hunting. Another popular game was to wave your tail and let your cub practice their pouncing skills. Pouncing skills were critical.

"That's a fair point. Well I'm sure the two of you will find your own pride one day. You're two young, strong lions. Surely, there's another pride you can take over. One with fewer males." Jugo offers encouragingly.

"We'll just have to keep looking." Itachi agrees.

Sasuke nods in agreement. They'd find another pride or maybe, if they waited long enough there would be an opportunity. Thankfully, he and Itachi were young. They had lots of time to find a pride.

Meanwhile the Hyugas had returned to their home and were all taking shelter underneath some trees. It was a tracheal downpour to say the least. All of the lions and lionesses were happy though.

The rains meant life. Soon there would be plenty of prey to hunt and lots of water to drink. It was just mildly annoying to get soaked in the meantime.

"The black lion wasn't there." Hanabi observes and Hinata frowns.

They were both in their animal forms. It was just easier to wait out the rain when you had a nice fur coat to insulate you. That and it made it easier to cuddle into your pride mates to get warmer.

"You're right. I didn't see him. I hope he's okay though. Father said that he probably got away. There was no body or scent of blood." Hinata mumbles anxiously.

She hoped that Hiashi was right. The man had risked his life to save a good portion of their pride. Most people would have thought he was absolutely insane to confront a pack of hyenas on his own and he probably was, but he was also brave. Really brave.

"I'm sure he got away. He must have. Maybe he just didn't feel comfortable coming to the meeting. He is a nomad and with that fur, he'd stick out." Hanabi reasons.

"Maybe. I hope someone warned him about the humans." The lavender eyed lioness says as she cleans her paws.

Neji prowls closer to his cousins and lays down by them. He wanted to get warmer and he sensed that they were somewhat distressed. Like any good pride male, he decided to check on them.

"You hope who warned who about the humans?" He asks gently.

"Someone warned the rogue male that saved us from the hyenas." Hinata clarifies and Neji nods in agreement.

He didn't really understand it. Why would a nomadic male save a bunch of females who weren't even from his pride? It didn't make any sense.

Maybe he had hoped that he could take over their pride. Perhaps he just didn't know that they already had males in theirs. He could just be passing through or maybe it had been the principle of the thing.

"I suspect he's just a nomad. It's likely that he wanders to wherever his paws decide to take him. Most likely, he's long gone by now." The lion reasons.

Hinata nods in agreement. Neji was probably right. She just didn't know why that upset her as much as it did.

"There will be great hunting soon." Hiashi says cheerfully and a chorus of approval is heard from the rest of the pride at this.

Hiashi smiles. His pride was doing very well. Once the rains stopped, they could go the watering hole. The prey would likely be in a daze. They'd get a few easy meals out of it.

"Rawr!" One of the cubs say as he jumps on the Hyuga Patriarch's tail.

"Owe!" He says, pretending to be hurt and rolls the little furball around with his massive paw.

It was good for them to think they were making progress. In reality, that cub still had his baby teeth. His bite didn't hurt Hiashi at all. Of course, the cub didn't need to know that.

Speaking of cubs, Hinata was of age. She'd probably be having her first liter this season or next season. Though he was at loss for who she was going to choose. Neji was too closely related. Though there were a couple of other male lions in the pride.

"Until the humans leave, it would be best to stay in our animal forms. Unless it's absolutely vital, don't transform. We can handle them seeing a pride of lions. What we can't handle is them discovering the existence of hybrids." He reminds them.

Thinking about his future grandchildren had triggered the memory of the meeting. If he wanted to ensure their safety, it was imperative that humans never find out about them. That much was obvious.

"Yes, Lord Hiashi." Came the chorus of replies and the proud lion nods in satisfaction.

They were a good pride. A large pride with many skilled hunters and healthy cubs. They were also obedient. In his view, that was extremely important. A pride without order would be complete chaos.

Elsewhere the team of scientists were having dinner at the hotel. Danzo hated this part of his job. He was more of a solitary creature than team player. Still he supposed it was important to keep up appearances.

"So which cats are we going to focus on?" Tsunade asks curiously as she sips her wine.

"I thought that we would start with lions. That's what most of the sightings have been about." Jirayia replies and she just shakes her head in amusement.

The doctor still thought that he was crazy, but she'd humor him. Jirayia was a good man. He was just a little eccentric sometimes. Alright, he was very eccentric sometimes.

"Lions sound good." Kakashi offers good-naturedly.

Yes, poor Jirayia. He must be going senile in his old age. The silver haired man still couldn't believe that he had wanted to comer all the way to Africa just to investigate a local legend. Oh well. It was the chance of a lifetime to study the big cats in person and he wasn't going to pass it up.

"Can you pass the salt?" Danzo asks and Kakashi hands him the salt.

He wasn't particularly fond of the fact that Danzo was there. Kakashi didn't know what it was, but there was something about the guy that just gave him the creeps. He had long ago learned to trust his instincts and decided to tread very carefully around the older man.

"Here you go." He says.

"Thank you. You certainly have better table manners than these two." Danzo ribs his other companions gently.

Tsunade twitches. The old grump was always doing this. He was always trying to pick little fights. It was so annoying. He hadn't changed since high school.

"Maybe if you had better manners and said please, we might pass it for you and I can't believe you are trying to start an argument over salt!" The busty blonde snaps at him.

"I was only teasing." Danzo insists.

Only teasing, her foot. She didn't believe it for a minute. Danzo was the most passive-aggressive person that she had ever had the misfortune to meet.

The rest of the research team chuckles at the display. They were used to watching such scenes. It seemed that no matter what the circumstance was, the Trio would always bicker about well everything.

"Of course, you were. We can all take a joke." Jirayia says as he continues eating.

They were going to need all their strength, if they were going to discover nekos. Filming on an empty stomach was never a good idea. It was very distraction and distractions lead to mistakes. None of them could afford to make any mistakes on something this important.

"Oh my word, there's a flamingo in the lobby!" Tsunade exclaims when she sees a bright pink bird lurking in the corner.

"Oh that can't possibly be real. It's probably just a decoration." Kakashi says.

"I'm telling you, that's a real bird!" The doctor insists defiantly.

Kakashi rolls his eyes playfully and reaches out to touch what he thought was just a decoration. He blinks when he finds out that it wasn't. Those were real feathers and it was warmed. That bird wasn't stuffed. It was alive.

He soon found out just how alive it was, when the animal streaked across the room. It was racing towards the door. Everyone just stares in disbelief. What else could they say or do? It wasn't every day that you had a flamingo as your uninvited dinner guest!

"Well that's certainly going to make for a very entertaining story, when we get back home." Jirayia chuckles.

Unbeknownst to them, that wasn't just a regular flamingo. That flamingo was a hybrid and her name was Sakura. Sakura had come to the hotel to spy on the big eyed humans and try to give the other hybrids a heads up about their plans.

She never expected to be spotted so quickly though. It seemed like it was getting harder to fool them every year. Still she had found out what she needed to know and a bit about their flock's dynamics. It was time to go now. So she flies off once she was outside the hotel and back towards the meeting place.

A few hours later and the rains had finally stopped. Sasuke stretches. The kill that Itachi had caught earlier would still last them awhile, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to take advantage of the wonderful hunting opportunities that the rains had provided.

"Be careful, Sasuke. The humans are out nosing around. Stay in your lion form. Oh and safe journeys, Jugo." Itachi calls out.

"I will. You don't have to worry about me. I know what I'm doing. I'm not a little cub anymore." Sasuke assures him.

"I don't know. You still act like one sometimes. I still can't believe that you were foolish enough to challenge a pack of hyenas." Itachi muses.

Sasuke rubs the back of his head sheepishly. His brother was never going to let him live that down. Of course, Sasuke knew why that was. Itachi was really just worried about him. That didn't mean it wasn't going to be embarrassing and annoying, every time the other lion brought it up.

"I couldn't just let them die. I'll be back soon." Sasuke says as he saunters off in his lion form.

He liked to eat in his human form, but his lion form felt more natural. It was certainly better for hunting anyway. He loved feeling the way that the earth would sift beneath his paws and how the wind would flow through his midnight black mane as he moved in this form.

He smirks when he came to the river. Maybe he'd just grab some fish or whatever animal happened by for a drink. With that in mind, he crawls low on his belly. Slowly so as not to alert any potential prey.

"Perfect." He mutters as he settles down in some high grass near the waters edge.

"You think you're sneaky." Kisame says.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at the other hybrid. It was Kisame. The man was a crocodile hybrid and currently lounging in the water. It was likely he had the same idea as the Uchiha.

"Maybe. Hunting should be good today." He says.

"Yeah. I figured as much. The wildebeests should be coming soon. I'm gonna grab me some." He says.

The raven furred lion smirks. That sounded perfect. He hadn't had wildebeest in awhile. Sometimes Kisame could come up with a bright idea.

"Great. I'm sure Itachi will some steak." He muses.

"Yeah. It'll probably impress that pretty lioness over there as well." The crocodile adds.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. Pretty lioness? What was Kisame talking about? He wasn't entirely sure that the other hybrid wasn't just pulling his tail, but he looks around anyway.

Sure enough, he saw that there was a lioness just downwind of him. A few dozen yards at most. She hadn't caught his scent or noticed him because he was perfectly hidden in the tall grass, but he could see her.

"Hinata?" He asks to himself in disbelief.

"Oh so you know that one. Should I be expecting little furballs running around the watering hole soon? Damn. I would love for that to happen. If you had cubs before Itachi, I could tease him endlessly. He thinks he's such a ladies cat." Kisame inquires with a smirk.

Sasuke sighs. The odds of little furballs were still incredibly low. Just because she happened to be hunting or getting a drink in the same spot didn't mean anything.

"I wish. Things aren't that simple." He mutters.

"You cats make things way too complicated." The crocodile says and shakes his head in amusement.

"Oh and if you tell Itachi about this, I'm going to turn you into a new pair of crocodile skinned boots!" The raven furred lion informs him.

Kisame had the decency to look nervous. Honestly, Sasuke wasn't really sure who would win that fight. Yeah, he was more agile. But Kisame had a lot of teeth and crocodiles could really lunge. He was also stronger in every way, except for bite strength.

"You talk tough, but I know the truth. You're just an overgrown pussycat. Do you want some milk and squeaky toys? How about a ball of yarn?" Kisame taunts him.

Sasuke twitches. His friend was asking to get his tail kicked. That was the only logical explanation. Why else would he bring up milk and squeaky toys?

"Oh that's it!" Sasuke growls and gets into pouncing position.

"Bring it, furball! Let's see what you got! King of the Beasts, my scaly ass! I don't know why they even call you that. Overgrown pussycat!" Kisame teases him.

While they were having their little scuffle, Hinata hears some voices. Naturally, the lioness decides to investigate. She cautiously approaches and blinks at what she saw.

It was the black lion from before! Wait. Was he actually going to fight a crocodile? He must be out of his mind. She was beginning to wonder if he had some kind of death wish or if he really did have nine lives.

"Don't! A crocodile's teeth will kill you!" She calls out fearfully and Sasuke looks back at her.

Damn it. Hinata had just seen him fighting with a crocodile. She probably thought he was crazy. How was he supposed to explain that Kisame was his loudmouthed friend that just needed his tail handed to him now and then?

"Hinata, it's alright. Kisame is my friend. We were just Play Pouncing." Sasuke says.

Play Pouncing was what lions called it when they practiced their pouncing skills. During Play Pouncing, your intention wasn't to harm the other person. It was purely to practice your skills to improve your odds of being a successful hunter and for fun.

"How do you know my name and you were Play Pouncing with a crocodile?" She asks in confusion.

Great. Now she knew that he knew her name. Hinata likely thought he was insane AND a stalker. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

"I heard one of your pride mates call it out while you were hunting. Yes, we were just playing. That's all. Kisame likes to trash talk. I think he enjoys being beaten up really." Sasuke says somberly.

"Oh well that makes sense. Well other than Play Pouncing with a crocodile. Then again, maybe it does make sense considering how brave you are. Are you alright? Did the hyenas hurt you?" She asks.

"Well I think I hear the wildebeests coming. So I'm gonna head off." Kisame says as he swims off.

He wasn't an idiot. The crocodile realized when his presence would hinder things. Besides, it really would be funny if Sasuke managed to have cubs before Itachi. He smirks to himself at the very thought of how much fun he would have over teasing the stoic elder Uchiha about such an occurrence.

"Alright. See you later." Sasuke says.

"It was nice meeting you?" Hinata says politely, though it was rather clear she couldn't help phrasing it as a question.

After all, crocodiles and lions were generally not the best of friends. It had to be a strange experience for her to see one being friendly outside of an emergency meeting. Sasuke couldn't entirely blame her. It had taken him awhile to get used to Kisame as well.

"The hyenas didn't hurt me. I got lucky. The idiots didn't realize that they had wandered into baboon territory. Suffice to say, the baboons didn't take too kindly towards the fleabags being on their land. The troop chased them off and I got away without a scratch." Sasuke explains.

"Oh well that's good." She says as she fluffs him in as grateful fashion.

If Sasuke had been a cheetah or a housecat, he would have purred at this gesture. He smiles as much as he could in his lion form and fluffs her back. Her fur was so soft and warm. By the end of the slight fluffing exchange, he felt like he was almost in a daze.

"Yeah. Like I said, I got really lucky. So what about your pride? Did anyone get hurt?" He asks.

"No. You stalled them and by the time we got back, the baboons had already drive them off. You should come back with me. You deserve a proper thanks. The least we could do is allow you to eat with us or something." Hinata says.

Sasuke sighs. Hinata was kind, but she had to know that wouldn't go well. The pride males would attack him on sight and he'd be forced to defend himself. That was hardly the way to win her over.

"I think that I'm going to have to pass. I wouldn't want to intrude and I think your fellow lionesses are looking for you. It was nice to meet you officially." Sasuke says as he prepares to bound off.

"Wait! I didn't even get your name!" She calls out just as he was darting off.

"It's Sasuke!" He yells out just as he dashes out of sight and her pride mates show up.

Sasuke was very aware of his surroundings, Hinata notes. She hadn't even heard them approach. He had though. Probably because he was a nomad and had to be on constant alert at all times.

"Hinata, who were you talking to?" Hanabi asks in confusion.

"Sasuke. That's the name of the lion that saved us from before. He was here and then he left." She explains.

"Wow. What'd he say to you?" Her little sister asks and Hinata sighs.

She wasn't really sure how to answer that. He had been Play Pouncing with a crocodile and had given his name. That was about it really.

Oh and a nice fluffing exchange. He had fur that felt like velvet. Nice and warm. She liked velvet. Sadly, that was really all that she had found out.

"Not much. He sensed you coming and departed." She says truthfully.

Though she highly suspected that wouldn't be the last time that she saw him. Next time, she would get some answers out of him. Like was he a nomad or did he have a territory set up nearby? How long had he been here? Was he part of a coalition or was it just him? Those were just some of the questions that she was going to ask him next time.


	3. Chapter 3

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 3

A few days had passed since the Hyena Incident and Hiashi Hyuga was beginning to notice a problem. The lionesses in the pride were far too interested in the black furred nomad. He was likely going to be forced to take action soon.

He could understand why. It wasn't everyday that someone was willing to face off against a pack of hyenas to protect strangers. That and the fact that he had such exotic fur likely only fueled their curiosities. Perhaps it was only natural and such interest would eventually die down. Hiashi was finding that increasingly unlikely though.

"He was really Play Pouncing with a crocodile?" Hanabi asks her sister.

"Yes. He was. I guess they are friends. It was the strangest thing that I've ever seen. He had absolutely no fear of the crocodile." Hinata replies.

He mentally sighs. Well so much for interest in the black lion dying down. Damn. Now he had three choices.

Hiashi could grab the other males and chase the nomad off. If worse came to worse, they could kill him. Though he really didn't want to do that. The neko had saved more than half of his pride. Finally, he could offer him a place inside their pride.

"That is one strange lion." Neji muses.

It was rare to offer a slot in an already established pride. Most of the time, it was only done to prevent the risk of the gene pool getting too thin. He supposed it couldn't hurt to have the pride's genes diversified a bit. Clearly, it would make the females happy.

That was assuming he was trustworthy. It was one thing to allow Neji to stay. He had known the man since he was a cub. Neji was absolutely loyal. This nomad was a completely unknown entity.

"You say strange, I say brave." Hanabi counters.

If they were normal lions, Neji wouldn't be in the pride anymore. They weren't though. They were nekos. Instinct was powerful, but the human mind could overrule it. Well it could overrule it when your willpower was strong enough.

Neji wasn't a threat to his rule. He could allow Neji to stay. Besides, Hiashi wasn't going to sire anymore cubs. Oh he COULD sire more cubs if he wanted to, the Hyuga Patriarch just didn't want to.

"He charges at a hyena pack by himself and plays with crocodiles. He's strange." Neji insists.

After his mate had died, Hiashi had just lost the desire to find another lioness and continue having more offspring. So he had kept Neji around and a couple other younger males to keep the pride going.

It was too big a risk not to have some breeding going on. Their numbers would eventually get low and the gaps between the generations would be too wide. His decision would have been playing with fire, if he hadn't allowed his nephew to stay. Hiashi never played with fire.

"Maybe a little, but it'd be boring if we were all the same." Hinata says as she cleans her paw.

Neji shakes his head. Honestly, the fanciful notions that were getting into the heads of the lionesses were rather dangerous. He could see them really getting hurt, if they tangled with some insane nomad.

Just then, Hiashi roars. It was the type of roar that signaled a meeting of the pride. Their leader wanted to discuss something important and he wanted to discuss it now.

"What is it, father?" Hinata asks.

"I wanted to speak with you all about the black furred lion. I know that he has been a topic of interest recently. I had hoped that it would die down eventually, but it seems that is not the case. So I will put it to a vote." He states.

The lions and lionesses look at each other in surprise. A vote? A vote on what? What was Hiashi talking about? It didn't make any sense.

"I can see you are all confused. The vote is about what we should do with him. Obviously, there is the option of just ignoring him. There is another option. We could chase him away. That may turn into a fight though. That or we could see if he's trustworthy. Potentially let him join the pride." He explains.

A vote was soon taken. Perhaps not surprisingly, the females were very interested at the prospects of having another male around. The males were far more skeptical. It was a majority rule vote though and the females ended up winning because they outnumbered the males.

"I was afraid that was going to happen. I want Neji to stay behind with the females in case something happens. The other adult males are to come with me. We'll see if we can't find him." Hiashi says with a sigh.

He gestures for the males to follow him. Soon enough, they did and the proud lions took off on their search. The rest of the pride could only watch as the nekos slowly disappeared from their sight.

"Do you really think that they'll find him?" Hanabi asks her sister.

"I don't know, but they are going to try. Hopefully, he'll join the pride. Any male brave enough to play with a crocodile has to be a fearless hunter." She muses.

Neji just shakes his head. Women could be so strange sometimes. He would never understand them. It didn't matter how long he lived.

Meanwhile the research team had headed off into the Savannah. All of them were bound and determined to find some lions. Though they were all determined for different reasons.

Jirayia hoped to discover a new species for purely academic reasons. Kakashi wanted to study the big cats. Danzo wanted to discover a new species to make his own fame and fortune. Finally, Tsunade hoped that they were able to find something because otherwise her friend was going to be crushed. (She hoped that he would be content with just regular lions.)

"I expect they would be by the watering hole." Danzo points out.

"Good thinking. Let's check there first." Jirayia says and Kakashi drives their jeep towards the instructed location.

Tsunade was a doctor, not a biologist or zoologist. Still even she couldn't help but stare around in wonder at the scene around them. There had to be dozens of different species gathered around the watering hole. Most were just happy to get a drink, but she was almost positive she saw a crocodile lurking around somewhere.

"Oh God! Look!" She calls out excitedly as the crocodile jumps out of the water and snatches a wildebeest.

"Please tell me you got that on camera, Danzo?" Kakashi asks and Danzo nods.

Of course, he got that on camera. He was going to get everything on camera. How else would he have proof of his discovery?

Naturally, it would be his discovery. He'd find a way to claim the lion's share of the credit. Danzo just wasn't sure how yet, but he would. There was no way that he was going to share the glory with his colleagues on this. No, this was his legacy. This was one thing that he wasn't going to share.

"I got it on camera. Don't worry. I know enough to keep the camera rolling at all times out here. You never know when you are going to miss something." Danzo reasons and Kakashi nods in approval.

"Amazing! It's a leopard! No, wait! There are three of them!" Jirayia calls out excitedly.

Indeed, there were three leopards slinking over to the water. What the scientists didn't know is that these leopards were siblings. They were also nekos.

While regular leopards were largely solitary animals, save for mothers and cubs and Mating, leopard nekos might occasionally stay in small groups with family members. They weren't pride animals like lions though. This was a fairly rare practice.

"The big eyed humans are watching us." Kankuro whispers to his sister and brother.

"Yeah. They are. They're too far away to hear us though. We should do something normal to distract them." Temari reasons.

Gaara nods in agreement. He smirks when he sees a flock of flamingos on the water. Purrfect.

With the goal of distraction in mind, he lunges at the flock. That should give the humans their amusement. Maybe they would leave them along, if they though the cats were just hunting.

"AHHHH! GAARA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! GET YOUR JAWS OFF MY NECK!" Sakura screams at him.

The red head blinks and releases the flamingo from his mouth. Hybrids never ate other hybrids. They might kill them, but they'd never eat each other. That was cannibalism. Most hybrids weren't particularly happy when another hybrid ate their animal counterpart, but everyone accepted that was just how the food chain worked.

"Sorry. I thought you were a regular flamingo." Gaara apologizes.

"Since when do leopards eat flamingos?!" She demands.

"Oh we'll eat pretty much anything really. It's not our natural first choice of prey, but mostly I just wanted to distract the big eyed humans." He explains.

That's when Sakura glances back and saw the jeep. Uh oh. This was bad. Those things meant the humans were going to stick around for awhile. She had known that of course.

Sakura had snuck into the hotel and overheard them. Seeing the jeep though in person, made it more real somehow though. She knew that didn't make any sense, but that was just how she felt.

"This isn't good." She mutters.

"No, it's not. We'll get through this though. This is hardly the first time that humans have poked their noses around in our territories." The leopard assures her.

Sakura nods. She hoped so. This was crazy. Why couldn't humans just stick to their territories and leave them alone? What was really so hard about that?

"You're right. Well you three should go. Humans are going to show a lot more interest in leopards than my kind." She warns him.

Gaara nods. He grabs one of the other flamingos in his jaws and Sakura winces. She understood that he had to make it look convincing, but still that could have been her!

The leopards soon disappear. As scared as Sakura was about the entire situation, she had to admit that she admired their speed and grace. They'd probably dart up some trees somewhere or hide in some caves. Leopards could be very elusive when they wanted to be.

Elsewhere Itachi and Sasuke were enjoying lounging on some really big rocks and sunbathing in their animal forms. That was always a fun activity. They were half asleep and completely relaxed. That was until they picked up the scent of some male lion nekos heading their way.

"Itachi, do you smell that?" Sasuke asks.

"I do, brother. Males. A lot of them. Perhaps we should retreat for now." He suggests.

"Maybe that'd be a good idea. I recognize the scents though. Those are Hyuga Pride males." The raven furred lion says.

The Uchihas were about to leave, when Hiashi and the other lions saw them. Sasuke had to admit, they were very fast. He wasn't even sure he and Itachi could have outrun them.

"There's no need to be alarmed. At the moment, all we desire to do is talk." Hiashi says.

Itachi and Sasuke both raise their eyebrows at this. Yes, they wanted to talk. That was why they had brought so many other lions with them. Sasuke does note with some smugness that the Hyugas seemed surprised that he wasn't alone. Good.

Their odds weren't great, but two lions had a better shot of making this out alive than one would have. Sasuke watches them warily. They wanted to talk? Why didn't he believe that?

"For someone that wants to talk, you certainly brought a lot of friends." Itachi observes warily.

"Yes, well I wasn't entirely certain that he would want to talk. So I brought backup, in case things went poorly. I didn't expect him to have a friend of his own though." Hiashi muses.

"I'll bet not. What do you want to talk about?" Sasuke asks.

He wasn't really sure where the older male was going with this. He had brought a lot of his pride with him. That didn't seem like the type of action that someone wanting to "chat" would pursue.

"You saved our lionesses from the hyena. Our pride females are rather grateful. Normally, I would just chase you out of the territory or perhaps if worse came to worse, kill you. I can't do that though. You saved them. It'd be dishonorable. I was going to offer you a chance to join our pride. There would be conditions, of course." The lavender eyed male says.

Sasuke and Itachi blink. He was offering Sasuke a place in the pride. The younger neko looks at his brother. It was a chance to join a pride, but to leave Itachi behind would be unthinkable.

"Now that you have seen there are two of us, I imagine you are rescinding that offer?" Itachi asks.

"I am more warily now than I would have been before, but he did save a large portion of our pride. If you both agree to the conditions, you may join." Hiashi answers him.

Itachi blinks again. The man was offering to take in two unknown males? That was almost unheard of. Why? What did he have to gain from it?

"What would these conditions be?" Sasuke asks.

"It's rather simple. I am the leader of Hyuga Pride. My word is law. If you wish to mate with any of the females, you should also have the courtesy to inform me of your intention as well. You aren't native to our pride. Bloodlines are important things to think about before allowing such unions to take place. You will of course be expected to pull your weight when it comes to protecting the pride, hunting, and the other daily tasks that need to be done for survival." He finishes.

The Uchiha brothers look at each other and the Hyuga Pride Males in shock. Hiashi was offering them a chance to stay in his pride? Had the Earth turned upside down?

"Itachi?" Sasuke asks uncertainly.

"The conditions do not appear intolerable to me. It's your decision though, Sasuke. I will go with you or not go, based on what you decide. You were the one that saved them. It's only right that you should have the final say." The elder Uchiha reasons.

Sasuke nods at his brother both gratefully and mournfully. He was used to having Itachi make the final decision on important matters. Itachi was older. It was only to be expected really. This was truly the first time that he had made the final call on something as significant as this.

"We'll go with you. It's better than being nomads or risking our lives trying to take over a smaller pride." Sasuke says.

"A wise decision. Remember that you agreed to the conditions. You are still outnumbered, if you decide you do not like them." Hiashi reminds him and the brothers nod as they follow him back to the pride.

When they arrived, the lionesses and cubs immediately took notice. It was rare to take in outsiders. Naturally, everyone was curious.

This was especially true of the littlest cubs. They waddled or scurried right over to investigate. Their eyes were bright and were noses twitching as their tails swished behind them in an alert fashion.

"And if you harm any member of this pride, you will regret it. That should go without saying, but I do believe in laying out all my cards on the table." The Hyuga Patriarch says.

Sasuke and Itachi nod. They smile and allow the cubs to sate their curiosity. One of them seemed to have decided Itachi's tail was utterly fascinating and was practicing pouncing. This was much to Sasuke's amusement.

Neji bounds over to Hinata and Hanabi. He was more concerned about them than most of the other pride females. Hanabi was too young for Mating to be a real possibility. Hinata was another matter though.

"Hiashi has decided to allow them to join us on a probationary status." He explains.

"That's great news!" Hanabi says excitedly and Hinata nods with a smile.

The young pride male didn't know if he agreed. Still he wasn't going to argue with Hiashi about it. He knew that in almost any other pride, he likely would have been kicked out long before now. He would go along with the man's wishes.

"We shall see. There were conditions. They had to accept that Hiashi is our leader." Neji explains.

"Well of course, father is our leader." Hanabi exclaims as if that was the most obvious thing in the world and it probably was to the young lioness.

Hinata nods in agreement and makes her way over towards the two dark furred lions. Seeing one lion with black fur was almost unheard of, but two seemed like nothing short of a miracle. Though she noted that the older male's fur was a shade or two lighter than Sasuke's.

"We shall have a feast later tonight to celebrate and formerly introduce the two of you to our pride. For now, do stay in your animal forms. There are big eyed humans lurking around and we don't want to get caught." He warns them before bounding off to go reassure some of the other members of their pride that all was well.

"Hinata." Sasuke says with a smile.

Well he was smiling as much as you could smile when you were a lion anyway. Really, it was the thought that counted. His tail swishes happily and Itachi shakes his head in amusement.

It was strange to see a lion in puppy love. Still he thought it was rather cute. Perhaps this would work out and Hiashi might even approve of the match. If not, well there were other lionesses here. Surely, the pride leader would approve of at least one of them for Sasuke.

"Sasuke! It's so good to see you again. Who is this?" She asks in confusion as she looks at Itachi.

"This is Itachi. He's my brother." Sasuke says and Hinata ohhhs.

"It's a pleasure to formerly meet you." Itachi says politely.

She did seem like a good lioness. Hinata was certainly healthy. She was quite pretty in her animal form. His brother had good taste. Itachi personally was hoping for a slightly more experienced lioness for himself.

While his first priority at the moment was making sure that they were accepted into the pride, he wanted to find a Mate eventually. Every lion did. Maybe have a few cubs. Sasuke seemed particularly interested in this pursuit, much to Itachi's mirth.

"And you as well. I'm Hinata." She says and her tail swishes in a friendly fashion.

"Hinata, cub." Sasuke points out and Hinata pretends to yip as one of the cubs gums on her tail.

The females were certainly having a grand time taking in the visual image of the two exotic brothers. Only Hinata had actually directly approached them yet though. It looked like some of the others were certainly thinking about it.

Hinata shakes her head good-naturedly at her fellow lionesses. Clearly, the gesture was designed to tell that it was okay. Sasuke and Itachi were friendly. That seemed to be all that they needed because suddenly quite a few lionesses were pawing over.

Itachi looked rather pleased this attention. Sasuke seemed a little overwhelmed and slinked off. Hinata giggles and follows him.

"Are you alright?" She asks.

"Well it was a little crowded. Besides, I figure that this way Itachi can have his fun. He's not like me." Sasuke says.

She tilts her head. Hinata wasn't really sure what Sasuke meant by that. _"He's not like me,"_ what did Sasuke mean by that?

"How is Itachi different from you?" The lioness asks in confusion.

"He doesn't know what he wants yet. Itachi doesn't know who he wants to be his Mate. So it only makes sense to let him get to know the females alone." Sasuke says.

Hinata blinks at that. Sasuke was implying that Sasuke did know who he wanted to be his Mate. Most likely, she was in this pride. Otherwise, why would he join it? It wouldn't have made much sense to join a pride, if she wasn't part of it.

"Oh. Well congratulations? Have you told her that you like her, yet?" The Hyuga female asks.

Sasuke shakes his head. He wasn't ready to tell Hinata yet. First, he had to prove himself to Hiashi. Hiashi was in charge of the pride. There was no point in pursuing her without getting permission first.

"I haven't told her yet. I hope I'll be able to tell her soon though." He answers honestly, but vaguely.

A few hours later, the feast was prepared. Sasuke and Itachi were rather stunned at the bounty laid out before them. There was buffalo, zebra, antelope, rabbit, fish, and even some ostrich eggs laid out before them.

"Your father wasn't kidding when he said there would be a feast." Sasuke muses and Hinata giggles.

"My father can never resist the chance to show off. It's just part of being a pride leader, I guess." The lioness says and Sasuke nods.

He couldn't help but wonder what Hinata looked like in her human form. He had a hard time imagining that she'd be any less beautiful. Once this business with the big eyed humans was settled, maybe he'd get to find out.

"ATTENTION! EVERYONE! ATTENTION! We are having this feast today in honor of our two newest pride members. Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. They are brothers and originally from the Uchiha Pride. We welcome them with open arms because Sasuke saved many of our lionesses. I want everyone to treat them as they would any other member of our pride, unless they violate the conditions." Hiashi says.

There was a chorus of affirmations after that. Sasuke watches and muses that Hiashi had quite a tight leash on his pride. Everyone followed him without question. He was truly a lion in his prime and master of his domain.

"With that being said, everyone is welcome to eat their fill." He finishes and everyone starts chowing down.

It was a good thing there was so much food. Lions had very healthy appetites. Sasuke had lived through both feast and famine times. When feast times came around, it was wise to take advantage of it and apparently everyone else in the pride agreed. The lions spent the rest of the night enjoying the festivities, unaware that the big eyed humans were getting closer and closer to their territory.


	4. Chapter 4

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Some of the questions that different reviewers had will be answered.

Chapter 4

A few days pass and Jirayia's team finds a large pride of lions. The most shocking thing about them was the fact that they had two black furred males amongst them. Even Danzo was stunned at this turn of events.

"Never thought I'd see a black lion in a zoo, much less in the wild." He muses.

"True and there isn't just one, but there are two of them." Kakashi muses as they watch the lions from their Jeep.

Jirayia nods in agreement. He still wanted to find the lion nekos more than anything, but two black furred lions was an amazing discovery by itself. That alone would make the trip more than worth doing.

Tsunade smiles as she watches the pride. The dark males were certainly striking, but all of the big cats were rather majestic. Well except for the cubs. They were adorable little furballs.

"Please tell me that you're getting this." Tsunade whispers to Danzo.

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss this for the world. I have the cameras rolling. I always do." The elderly man informs her.

Honestly, why did his teammates all think that he was so inept? He was a very capable scientist in his own right and he had been working a camera since he was a mere scrap of a boy.

"Great." Kakashi says cheerfully as he begins counting to see how many lions there were.

That's when Tsunade noticed that the lions were all staring at them. Their eyes all looked rather wary. She frowns when she notices this. It was almost like they understood what was going on and were nervous.

"I must be going crazy." She mutters to herself.

"What do you mean?" Jirayia asks in confusion when he hears his friend talking to herself.

"I could swear that those lions are nervous about our presence. It's like they understand what is going on." The busty blonde mutters.

Kakashi shakes his head in amusement. Well it was likely that they had never seen a jeep before. The cats probably were nervous and confused. That didn't mean much though.

"Lions are very intelligent animals. They probably realize that we aren't an animal that they've ever seen before. It's only natural that they'd be wary." He reasons.

Hiashi watches the big eyed humans like a hawk. He didn't like it. The Hyuga Patriarch most certainly did not care for his pride being this close to humans, especially not big eyed humans.

"We have to get the cubs out of here." He whispers.

"Some of us males could go closer to them and distract them, while the females and a couple males head off with the cubs." Itachi suggests.

Hybrids in the Savannah generally spoke at least two languages. Their Native Language and the Language of the Savannah. Though Itachi was certain that there were probably equivalent versions of the latter language throughout the world. (He strongly suspected that it probably varied region from region, but obviously he wasn't in the mood to travel far enough to prove or disprove that theory.)

The Native Language was their birth language. It was what they used to speak with other members of their species or to confuse other hybrids. Finally, the Language of the Savannah was understood by every hybrid nearby, regardless of their species. It made it easy for say lion nekos to communicate with crocodile hybrids. Thankfully, humans couldn't understand either language. They just heard animal noises.

"That sounds like a good plan." Hiashi agrees.

He has Sasuke and Neji stay behind with the females to help them get the cubs to "safety" while the other males cautiously approach the humans. The lavender eyed lion loathed having to do this. It was truly courting death. He was well aware that humans were sometimes the only real predators that full grown lions had. This was madness.

The other males continue their approach. The rest of the pride takes their cue and begins moving off with the cubs. Their hope was that the humans would be too distracted by the males to notice.

"They're approaching the Jeep?" Tsunade asks in disbelief.

"Well I suppose that it's only natural for them to be curious." Jirayia muses in wonder as he watches the lions walk towards them.

The lionesses, Sasuke, and Neji quickly scoop up the cubs and gesture for the yearlings to follow them. Well actually, Sasuke was following Hinata and Neji. He had no idea where their hiding spots were for emergency situations like this.

He wasn't disappointed though when he found out that they had a system of caves they used. The cases insides were apparently a lot bigger than they seemed to be on the outside. It was a complete maze.

"Don't try anything, stupid. You'd get lost in here, without us." Neji informs him rather bluntly.

Sasuke gives Neji a dirty look for that suggestion. This was his pride now. He wasn't going to try anything. Though if he wasn't carrying a cub in his mouth, he probably would have given Neji a piece of his mind.

Hiashi was the leader of the pride. Neji wasn't. Sasuke might be able to get away with giving the other lion an earful, if it was deserved.

"Neji! That wasn't very nice!" Hinata exclaims at her cousin.

"I don't care if it was nice or not. We know nothing about him and Itachi, other than Sasuke saved you from the hyenas. Clearly, that worked out to his benefit. It's not wise to open your heart to strangers so easily." Neji says as he bounds off further into the cave, with the yearlings following him.

Hinata sighs. She knew that Neji loved their pride. He'd do anything to protect them and that included being a jerk. The other lion likely thought he was doing the right thing by keeping Sasuke and Itachi at paw's length. He wasn't though.

"I'm really sorry about that. It's just going to take him awhile to get used to you." Hinata says as she offers the closest thing to a reassuring smile that a lioness could give.

"It's alright. I'd be surprised if he wasn't wary of me. It's harder for the males than the females." Sasuke mutters.

Sasuke wished that he was a more forgiving neko than he was. Neji was just doing what any smart lion would do. That didn't meant that the raven furred Uchiha had to like it though. Quite the contrary, this might be an issue later down the line.

Hinata nods and they follow after Neji. The cubs were still in their mouths. So it was hard to talk. That was to be expected really.

"Well this is where we go when things get bad." Hanabi says and Sasuke nods in acknowledgement as he sets the cub he was carrying down.

Ah that was better. His mouth was free now. Talking would be so much easier. He smiles as the cubs all gather together in a tight circle and the adults surround said circle.

Sasuke decides to take his chances and lays down next to Hinata. He saw the glower Neji gave him for that move and smirks. Ha! Serves him right. That'll teach him to throw his weight around.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Hinata asks nervously.

It was obvious that at the moment either she was completely obvious to the rivalry forming between the males or her concern for the rest of the pride was taking precedence. Either way, Sasuke was more than happy to go with it. He would try to comfort her.

"I'm sure they'll be alright. Hiashi is really smart and so is Itachi. All of them look pretty fast too. So in the worst case scenario, I think that they could out run the big eyed humans." Sasuke says as he shyly licks her cheek with his long, rough tongue.

Hinata smiles and doesn't seem to be protesting. So Sasuke takes that as a good sign. Soon enough, he was contentedly grooming his lioness. Neji was glaring daggers at him, but that just made it better. He just hoped that the others would get back soon though.

Elsewhere the Sabaku Siblings had found Naruto's pack. Naruto was an African Wild Dog Hybrid. He lived in a large pack with his mate, Karin. Karin was friends with Sasuke, Jugo, and even Suigetsu. (Well sorta.)

"I hate it when the big eyed humans show up. Then we are all stuck waiting until they are done gawking at us." Naruto grumbles.

"So does everyone else. It'll pass though. They saw us at the watering hole. I wanted to distract them so went after a Flamingo. The Flamingo turned out to be Sakura. She wasn't too happy about the incident, but she's alright." The leopard informs him.

Naruto tries not to laugh. He knew that it would be wrong to laugh, but that was really funny. Man, Sakura must still be funning. She was still a little sensitive about being a flamingo and friends with so many predator type hybrids. So yeah. Things like this were bound to happen sooner or later.

"Yeah. I bet she's still fuming." Naruto says.

"Probably. She'll get over it eventually. Sakura is realistic enough to know that that sorts of mistakes happen sometimes." The leopard says, though he had the decency to look sheepish.

Karin just shakes her head and nuzzles her Mate. She knew what was really going on in his mind. The man was likely only one or two breaths away from laughing.

"Well they are checking out lion territory first. So we should probably avoid the biggest watering hole. The rains just hit. So there's plenty of water in other places." Karin reasons.

"Yeah. That's a good idea." Kankuro says, agreeing with the red head.

Well Karin was a red head in her humanoid form. Like most hybrids, in her animal form traits such as that became far more muted or disappeared completely. In her case, she was a bit more colorful than the average African Wild Dog.

Gaara was also a red head in his human form. The youngest of the Sabaku Siblings was blessed with fur that had a slightly reddish tint to it. Temari thought it was quite exotic really and kept telling Gaara that one day it would help him attract a Mate easily.

"Be careful. You know that humans can be strange creatures. One day they are hunters and the next they just want to stare at us." Temari says.

Of course, the hybrids had no way to knowing the reality of the situation. Big eyed humans tended to be researchers and the hunters were really poachers. To the hybrids, there was no difference. If it walked on two legs and didn't have any animal features, it was just better to assume it was a predator.

"Yeah. They are. Even Kisame, doesn't really want to deal with them." Naruto offers.

"Speaking of Kisame, that reminds me. I haven't seen the Uchiha brothers for a bit." Gaara muses.

He and his siblings tended to give the lions a wide birth. It was nothing personal. It was just that leopards and lions sometimes went after the same prey. Lions were a lot bigger than leopards and the more elusive cats didn't want to pick fights in most cases. So they would either try to outrun them or dart up a tree. After all, most lions lived in prides and leopards weren't stupid.

"I haven't either. That's weird." Naruto muses.

"Maybe you should try to check on Sasuke and Itachi? You know them better than we do." Temari points out.

Naruto nods as he considers this. Yeah. It might not be a bad idea to check up on the bastard. Who knew what sort of trouble the pair of lions had gotten themselves into?

"Yeah. I think I will. I mean if you are okay with it, Karin." Naruto says as he returns her nuzzle.

"I'm okay with it. Hybrids can't eat each other without violating one of our most sacred laws. Neither of them is demented enough to do that. Besides, Sasuke is also friends with Jugo. Jugo is cool." The other African Wild Dog hybrid replies.

"Alright. Sounds good then. I'll catch you guys later. I'm going to go see what's going on." Naruto says as he trots off.

Back with the males of the Hyuga Pride and the research scientists, the lions were still watching the jeep carefully. None of them were going to allow it to happen. They weren't going to allow the big eyed humans to get near the cubs and the lionesses. Over their dead bodies.

Naturally, the humans were completely oblivious to the principled stand the nekos thought they were making. They were utterly fascinated and captivated by the big cats. Danzo continues filming and the others were making notes or narrating the bizarre seem.

"That's weird. They aren't sniffing the Jeep or anything." Jirayia muses.

"Why is that weird?" Tsunade asks in confusion because she wasn't entirely certain what her colleague was getting at.

"Well normally that's what animals do when they are curious about something." He replies.

Tsunade thinks about it for a moment and then nod. Yes, it was curious. Very curious. Maybe the big cats were more used to seeing jeeps than they thought?

"Do you think it's possible that other researchers have been through this area and they are just used to cars?" She inquires.

"Maybe. That might explain a great deal actually." Jirayia replies.

Danzo just ignores their conversation. He was too busy filming the lions, particularly the black one. Oh he was magnificent. He still had high hopes that they would discover nekos, but a black lion on film in the wild was still quite the fine feather to add to his cap.

Kakashi was inclined to agree. These were some very bold lions. Though he noted that it was only males. The females had slunk off with the cubs somewhere.

"Hey, wasn't there a second black lion?" The silver haired man inquires.

"Yes, there was. Why do you ask?" Jirayia replies in confusion.

"Well I guess he must had darted off with the lionesses. Smart that one is. Get some alone time with the ladies. That's a cool cat." Kakashi chuckles and Tsunade smacks him upside the head.

Kakashi owes and looks at her. He places his hand over his heart as if pretending that he was mortally wounded. Jirayia and Danzo just shake their heads at the other man's antics.

"Owe. What was that for?" He asks.

"I can't believe that somehow you made lions perverted. Only you, Kakashi. Only you." She grumbles.

The scientists and doctor soon turn their attention back to the lions. Tsunade bites her lower lip. This was getting really strange. It was almost as if the big cats were attempting to stare them down or something.

"It's getting late. As much as I hate to leave them, we should head back. Getting caught in the bush after dark is a bad idea." Tsunade reasons.

Kakashi, Danzo, and Jirayia all sigh in disappointment. She was right, of course. That didn't mean that any of them wanted to leave the lions behind. This was an amazing find!

"Alright. We'll leave for now. We'll come back in the morning. This is likely their territory. They might still be here." Kakashi reasons.

Tsunade nods. The researchers quickly drive off. Once they were out of sight, the lions all breath a sigh of relief. That had been a close one. Damn big eyed humans.

"Alright. Is everyone okay?" Hiashi asks and there was a chorus of reassurance from the other pride males.

"Yes, I think everyone is alright. We should probably head back to the lionesses, Sasuke, Neji, and the cubs." Itachi replies.

Hiashi nods in agreement. It was a grand procession of majestic lions walking back towards the caves. Each and every one of them was on high alert. There was always the chance that the big eyed humans might double back and none of them wanted to lead them to the hiding spot.

They make their way back to the caves and where the rest of their pride was hiding. At first, Hiashi sighs in relief when he sees that everyone was alright. Then he frowns when he saw what was going on. Sasuke was grooming Hinata.

"There's a spot on the back of my neck that I can't reach. It's been driving me crazy." Hinata whispers.

The other lions hadn't noticed that their pride mates were back. So Hinata was quite content to enjoy the rather thorough grooming session that Sasuke was providing. She lets out a sigh of contentment when Sasuke cleans that spot.

"How's that?" He asks.

"Better. Much better." She mumbles and closes her eyes as she begins to drift off to sleep.

Hinata probably would have fallen asleep, if her father hadn't roared to signal their return. That got the attention of every member of the pride. Everyone was immediately standing up and bounding over to greet the returning males.

"Father! You're back!" Hanabi and Hinata cry out joyfully as they rush over and fluff him.

"Yes, I am. Well I see that everything went smoothly here." He muses and glances at Sasuke.

Well he had to give the lion this much. He had the decency to look embarrassed. Hiashi couldn't really hold a grooming session against him. It was a standard pride bonding exercise. Though he knew that it had been a rather subtle flirtation. It was a far cry from actually attempting a Mating, but it was a first rather tentative step towards it.

"Yeah!" Hanabi agrees and smiles, with her tail swishing happily.

Sasuke was grateful that the rest of the pride hadn't brought up what he had been doing to Hiashi. It was humiliating. Hinata's father had walked in on them. Not that they were doing anything scandalous, but he doubted that the Hyuga Patriarch didn't know why he was really grooming her. It was embarrassing to be caught.

"Itachi!" Sasuke says as he strides over to his brother and fluffs him.

"I'm glad to see that all of you made it to the safety location, safely." Itachi whispers to him as they exchange fluffs.

The raven haired lion nods in agreement. Thank goodness, for safety locations. They were important places to any pride or for any lion really.

"I hope you realize that you are probably going to get an eyeful because you were trying to seduce the little princess and her father walked in on you two." Itachi murmurs into his ear.

"Yeah. I know. I um wasn't planning on getting caught." Sasuke mutters.

"Clearly. Well I suppose there is a reason why I call you my foolish little brother." Itachi muses.

Unbeknownst to them at the moment, Mikoto and Fugaku were still back in the Uchiha Pride. Fugaku shakes his head as he eats with his Mate and the rest of their pride. He knew that look all too well.

His Mate thought she was sneaky. Oh Fugaku knew full well that she sometimes sneaked across their pride lands and visited their sons. Honestly, what kind of leader would he be, if he didn't notice when his own Mate was trying to be sneaky.

"You know that I know what you are planning, right?" He asks once they were alone.

"And what am I planning?" She asks.

Mikoto tried to hide her nerves. Fugaku was a good Mate, but he was also very traditional. While social norms for lion nekos were just beginning to loosen, her lover fully believed in the traditional way of life. That meant young adult males got driven out.

She knew that he loved their sons as much as she did. Mikoto even knew why it had to be done. It was a way to spread the Uchiha genes out further and prevent inbreeding. That didn't make it any easier though. She didn't see why she couldn't visit them.

"You were thinking about visiting Sasuke and Itachi, AGAIN. Don't even bother to deny it. You have always been a horrible liar. It's one of your most endearing qualities, really." Fugaku says.

Mikoto gulps. Damn. She had been caught red pawed. That wasn't good. She watches her Mate warily. The midnight black lioness didn't know how Fugak felt about her little excursions.

"They're good boys. They haven't tried to take over this pride or gone over the border." She says defensively.

"Yes, they are good boys. Unlike their very naughty mother, Sasuke and Itachi follow the rules. Well Itachi follows the rules technically, if not the spirit of them anyway." He mutters.

She tilts her head to the side. His reaction was confusing. It was almost like he was teasing her or exasperated.

"You like it when I'm naughty though. That's how we had two cubs together in the first place." Mikoto reminds him.

Fugaku chuckles. Mikoto had such a wonderfully expressive face. This was especially true, when she was in her mostly humanoid form.

The woman had long midnight black silky hair that fell to the middle of her back, ivory colored skin, and the most expressive ruby red eyes that he had ever seen. Somehow her lioness ears and luxurious black tail only added to the adorable scene. It was amusing when she thought she was being clever.

"Yes, sometimes I do quite enjoy it. Well I suppose you may go see them. We have been Mated long enough that I know you are going to do so with or without my permission anyway." He says with a heavy sigh.

Their youngest cub, Sasuke, looked so much like their mother. Itachi favored him more strongly though. Perhaps that was why he was willing to be more lenient with his Sasuke cub and indulge Mikoto. He had her face. Innocent. Itachi had always been more independent and bucked his authority at every opportunity.

That was not the case with Sasuke though. The lion was always eager to please and followed the rules to the letter. He sometimes wondered how they could have possible sired to children who were so different from each other.

"Thank you, my love." Mikoto says as she kisses his cheek.

"No one else should ever find out about this though. The rest of our pride will think that I've gone soft. It's very important to maintain the established order. Otherwise, chaos will follow." He reminds her.

She nods in agreement. Idly, he noted that she was wearing the zebra dress that he had gotten her for one of their anniversaries. Sneaky little lioness. He knew how much he liked the sleeveless dress that came to her knees on her. It certainly flattered her figure.

His own attire was far less elegant in contrast. A simple long sleeved shirt and pair of pants that were both made out of impala fur. Mikoto seemed to have a particular fondness for this pair of pants for some reason. He didn't know why, but he indulged her anyway.

"Of course. Shall we go find them?" She asks.

"Yes, I suppose it's time to go see what sort of trouble they have gotten into in our absence. God only knows, what sort of mischief Itachi has gotten into. The man is friends with a fucking crocodile and Sasuke is friends with a baboon." Fugaku says with a sigh.

"I think that it's good they have such a diverse set of friends. Each hybrid species has their strengths and weaknesses." She muses.

Fugaku just nods. He still thought it was odd. Though he wasn't stupid. He knew that things were slowly changing in the hybrid community. Whether it was for the worse or for the better, remained to be seen.


	5. Chapter 5

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 5

The next day, Sasuke knew he was in trouble. He was in big trouble. Hiashi Hyuga wanted to talk with the black furred lion. Alone. He wanted to talk to Sasuke alone. That was never a good sign.

"I admit that it does flatter my ego to see you look suitably terrified. You may calm yourself though. I am not going to kill a lion or chase one off over a grooming session." The lavender eyed lion assures him.

"Oh. Really? Good." Sasuke says as he watches the older male with somewhat less nervous eyes than before.

Hiashi shakes his head. He was grateful that he had never been in Sasuke's position. When he came of age, he just took over the pride and drove the older males off. Hiashi had been fortunate because his brothers had helped him do so.

"However, I am not a fool. I somehow doubt that grooming was the only thing you had on your mind." He states bluntly.

Sasuke mentally gulps. If it came down to a fight, he was confident that he could win. Somehow though, he doubted that killing or beating up her father was the way to win over his huntress. Damn it.

"Well she is a beautiful lioness. She's kind and she's a skilled huntress. Eventually, I'd like to take her as my Mate. Only if she consents and you grant your permission though, of course." Sasuke explains in a rush.

"You intend to Mate her? You look rather young to take a Life Mate. How old are you?" Hiashi asks as he examines the black lion closely.

Maybe he was older than he thought. The lion was massive. Just because he sounded young in his voice, didn't mean he actually was. There were few lions that ever achieved that size.

"Almost 19 seasons." Sasuke answers.

"Your size matches a lion of 30 or even 40 seasons." Hiashi muses as he continues his appraisal.

The cubs would likely be rather exotic. While he normally did not put much stock in the appearance of other males, he was reluctantly forced to admit that Sasuke's exotic raven black fur was aesthetically pleasing. He also had ruby red eyes and a silky large mane for his age. That mane would likely only grow. Those were strong genes.

"The lions from my birth pride tend to reach our maximum size early. We aren't really sure why." Sasuke answers.

"Ah I see. Well that's a blessing." Hiashi replies.

Sasuke was also brave or suicidal, depending on how one looked at it. Playing with crocodile hybrids and charging at a pack of hyenas alone. He'd certainly wouldn't hesitate to put his body on the line for this pride. The young lion had even done so before he was part of it. So that was good.

The Uchiha couldn't help but feel like he was being sized up. Sasuke knew that Hiashi was likely making some sort of decision about him. He just wasn't sure what criteria Hiashi was grading him on or how he determined what was a passing score. That made him nervous, but he tried not to show it.

"Well I can't deny that you certainly don't hesitate to protect her and you seem to get along well enough with cubs. So that shouldn't be an issue. I would like to see your hunting skills though." He says bluntly.

Hunting. Hunting was fine. Sasuke could work with that. He was a good hunter. If that was all he had to do to win Hiashi over, Sasuke was sure that he could manage it.

"I don't mind proving that I'm a capable hunter." Sasuke says.

"Good. I shall inform Neji that we left to go on a quick hunting trip and he'll watch over the pride while we are gone. You may wait here." Hiashi says as he bounds off to find his nephew.

Sasuke nods. He waits in the assigned spot. This was his chance. If he could prove to Hiashi that he was a good hunter, then he'd get the other lion's blessing. After that, it was purely a matter of whether or not Hinata thought he would be a worthy Mate.

She hadn't minded when he groomed her. Sasuke took that as a good sign. The huntress was fine with him being close to her and affectionate. That was a start, right?

Meanwhile Hiashi finds Neji. It was standard protocol to inform another pride mate when you were going out on a hunt. Hiashi firmly believed in following protocol. Rules existed for a reason.

"Neji, I am going out on a hunt with Sasuke. I want to see what his hunting skills are. I trust that you will watch over our pride while I'm gone." He states.

Neji blinks. His uncle wanted to go out on a hunt ALONE with Sasuke? Was he completely out of his mind? While they were surrounded by the other members of the Hyuga Pride, it was highly doubtful either brother would be foolish enough to attack anyone. That wouldn't be the case on this hunt though.

Their pride leader would be alone with another adult male. An adult who hadn't been born into this pride. Sasuke might try to take over by killing Hiashi or at least besting him badly enough that the other lion would be forced to acknowledge his dominance.

"Are you certain that is a wise idea?" The lavender eyed lion inquires tactfully.

"Yes, I'm quite certain. I know what you are thinking. If worse comes to worse, I am confident that I would win such a battle. Do not treat me as if I already have one paw in the lion graveyard." Hiashi chides him good-naturedly.

"Very well. I would never question your judgment. I can not help worrying for you though. You are my uncle and I love you. Please do be safe. I must admit, I don't trust these new males." Neji says with a sigh.

Hiashi raises an eyebrow. He wasn't surprised that Neji felt that way. He was surprised that he would confess to such a thing without any good reason why the lion was feeling that way.

"I am always careful and I shall take that into consideration. We will be back soon." Hiashi assures him.

"Very well. Good luck on the hunt. We can always use more food. The cubs are growing by leaps and bounds. So are their appetites." Neji points out and Hiashi chuckles in agreement.

"That is most certainly true." He agrees as he heads back towards Sasuke.

One way or another this day would be interesting. Perhaps Sasuke wouldn't be a good hunter and he would have a good reason to deny the young lion a chance to Mate with his daughter. Conversely, he might prove himself capable and then things would certainly get interesting.

"I have informed Neji that we are going hunting. Tell me, what is your preferred prey?" Hiashi asks as the two walk off together.

"Well I'll have a go at almost anything that I think I can catch. Zebra, Impala, and Wildebeests are my favorite though. Though I would never say no to Cape Buffalo. Obviously, that's a bit difficult to hunt down when you are in a coalition of two though." Sasuke says.

"Oh those are all good. Tell me, have you ever tried giraffe?" Hiashi asks.

Sasuke shakes his head. Lions rarely hunted giraffes, but he had heard of it happening. Sasuke wasn't really sure how one would go about such a thing. They were so tall that they would always see you coming.

"No, I'm afraid that I haven't. Have you?" Sasuke asks.

"A few times. It's a risky hunt, but the meat is quite tender." Hiashi assures him and Sasuke nods.

Hiashi liked giraffe, but he wasn't foolish enough to attempt it on this hunt. There were only two of them. No, they would have to go after something more realistic.

"Let's go see if we can't find any zebra. That should pose a realistic challenge." He states.

"Alright. Zebra it is. They are probably by the watering hole. " Sasuke says as he heads off in that direction with Hiashi following him.

Elsewhere, Naruto was looking for the Uchiha brothers. He finally had found their scent and was following it, when he saw some big eyed humans. Damn it. Not this again.

"Oh look! It's an African Wild Dog!" Kakashi says and Danzo nods as he starts filming.

Danzo was rather frustrated. They still hadn't found any hybrids. Of course, he knew that it was unlikely one was just going to walk up to them and say hello. Still it he couldn't deny that he felt restless as he was sure they were coming closer and closer to making the scientific discovery that would change everything.

The possibilities were almost endless. It would be a Missing Link of sorts. Imagine an animal with human intelligence or at least one that could assume a mostly humanoid form. The results would be fascinating. So much research and study would have to be done. Naturally, Danzo intended to be the one who led all these research efforts.

"Good find, Kakashi." He replies simply as he films the beautiful African Wild Dog.

It was quite an unusual find for two reasons. The first is that it had some golden patches of fur here and there and beautiful blue eyes. The second was that the creature was alone. African Wild Dogs usually traveled in packs.

Granted, the creature was no lion neko. Despite that, Danzo privately admitted that the canine was certainly worth recording. Truly, it was a beautiful beast.

"Big eyed humans are so annoying." Naruto grumbles as he heads towards the tires of the Jeep.

If there was one thing he knew about humans, it was that they didn't like traveling outside of these strange devices they were always inside. When hybrids had first encountered them, they had thought the vehicles were either predators with a see through stomach or the big eyed humans' manes. They clearly weren't though.

Naruto wasn't exactly sure how it worked, but they did use them to move around faster. The humans must have felt safer inside them or something. Rarely, did he see them without their strange metal thingiemerbobbers.

"This should slow them down." He muses as he slashes at the tires with his claws and runs off.

He had to find Sasuke and Itachi. Naruto wasn't going to let any big eyed humans follow him. The blonde was quite certain that they wouldn't be able to keep up with him, once their contraction was damaged.

"The damn mutt just slashed our tires!" Danzo growls in annoyance.

"I believe he did. It's alright though. We have spares. I'll just have to change them." Kakashi says.

Jirayia and Tsunade look at the silver haired man. That meant he would be outside the protection of the Jeep. The animals might have a go at the masked man before he could change the tires.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Tsunade asks cautiously.

"Not entirely, but it has to be done. We can't get back, unless the tires are fixed." The youngest member of their team reasons.

Tsunade and Jirayia sigh. Well they certainly couldn't argue with that logic. Besides, they did have tranquilizer guns with them and real guns, if worse came to worst.

"Alright, but be careful. We don't want to lose anyone while we are on this trip." The white haired man says.

"I'm always careful." Kakashi tells him in amusement as he gets out of the Jeep and proceeds to begin changing the tire.

The young man still couldn't believe what had happened. An African Wild Dog had just slashed one of their tires. It was so strange. It was almost like the canine knew what he was doing.

"I'm just being silly. It just attacked the tires out of curiosity and then bolted. The tires were the only thing it could really reach. That's all it was. It's not like he actually had a plan." He mutters to himself as he removes the damaged tire.

At that same moment, Mikoto and Fugaku depart from their pride. Fugaku had ensured that the other pride members though they were going out for a hunt. He made sure that his second in command would look after the pride during his absence and then headed off with his wife.

"I still can't believe that you talked me into this. It must have been that damn zebra dress of yours." He says as the pair of them make their way into Hyuga Territory.

The proud Uchiha lion didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Invading another pride's territory like this was a risky move. It could star at war. Still his Mate was confident that they could avoid detection and visit with their sons. Besides, the Hyugas wouldn't really want to risk a war with the Uchiha Pride, would they?

Both prides were massive. They each had powerful warriors and hunters. The two prides also had small cubs. It would be too risky for either pride to engage in a real conflict, without a damn good reason. Unfortunately, they might very well be giving them one.

"You like the zebra dress though." Mikoto replies in confusion.

"Yes, I do like it. That's why you wore it. You know that it distracts me and that was your plan all along. I'm sure of it." He grumbles.

Mikoto shakes her head in amusement and nuzzles her Mate. She knew that deep down, he missed the boys as much as she did. Fugaku was just a proud lion and didn't want to admit it. That was all.

"Maybe, I might have subconsciously chose it to plead my case." She whispers.

"I thought as much. Oh and we both know that it wasn't a subconscious choice. That was very much, a conscious one." Fugaku replies and Mikoto giggles in response.

Fugaku smiles when he hears her giggle. He did love his Mate's laugh and giggle. There were few sounds more beautiful in the world than that. Well other than her moans. Hmm. Now where was he.

"I'm concerned that their scents are coming from the Hyuga Territory. You don't think that they were foolish enough to challenge that pride, do you?" He asks in concern.

"I don't know. Itachi and Sasuke are both big boys and very strong. Maybe they thought that they could take over the Hyugas by ambushing them and picking the males off one by one?" The dark beauty suggests.

Her Mate pauses as he considers that suggestion. Maybe. That would be the smart thing to do and their sons were intelligent. Perhaps they had managed to simply outsmart the Hyuga pride males?

"It's a possibility, but be on guard. I dislike wandering this far into another pride's territory. We are flirting with disaster, Mikoto." He points out.

Mikoto nods. She knew that it was dangerous, but she couldn't help it. The lioness missed her sons. The Uchiha woman understood why this was the way things were logically, but emotionally was another matter.

"I know. We'll be careful. Don't worry, my love. It will all work out for the best. You'll see." She reassures him as she licks his cheek affectionately.

Fugaku just shakes his head at his Mate. She was such an optimist. Sometimes, he wondered how she had ever ended up married to him. He was a pessimist by nature. Well except for when it came to her. Mikoto had always been an exception to everyone of his rules.

"Well I don't smell any blood. That's always a good sign." Fugaku observes and his wife nods in agreement.

At that same moment, Itachi was still back with the rest of the Hyuga Pride. Currently, he was getting to know his pride mates. The lionesses seemed far more friendly towards him than the lions and that was just fine with him. The cubs liked him too. He'd eventually win the males over as well.

"So where are you from?" One of the lionesses asks.

"Originally, my brother and I are from the Uchiha Pride. The land of our birth is just a few days travel from here." He explains.

"Did you all have black fur or was that just you and him? A cub asks excitedly.

Neji mentally groans. Oh for goodness sake's. Just because he had dark fur didn't make him a God. This was insanity. Did no one else have a problem with allowing two strangers into their pride?

"I know what you are thinking. I agree. I don't know why Hiashi allowed this. The gene pool was not nearly thin enough to justify this." Another Hyuga male whispers to Neji.

"Whatever you do, do not let Lord Hiashi hear you say that. He will think that you are questioning his judgment." Neji replies.

Bad things happened when you questioned Hiashi Hyuga's judgment. There was a reason why he was the leader of this pride. He was a fearsome fighter. When he felt his rule was being challenged, well it didn't end well for the challenger.

"I love Hiashi. He's like a father too me, but on this he's wrong. Why would he invite such risk to our pride? It's completely unnecessary." He continues.

The lion's name was Aoki. He was a year or two younger than Neji. He was a great hunter, but reckless in the lavender eyed lion's view.

"You know, it's rude to talk about someone like that. It's rude to talk about someone as if they were not standing right behind you." Itachi whispers into Akio's ears.

Neji's eyes widen. The other lion's speed was incredible. He had darted behind Akio that he was scarcely more than a blur. Neji knew one thing at that moment. If Itachi had wanted Akio to be dead, he would have been.

Izumi watches all this with wide eyes. She was considered exotic by Hyuga standards because her father had been a nomadic male that her mother had met while out hunting. For obvious reasons, he had never been accepted into the pride.

So instead of the usual light fur coat of the Hyuga Clan or the black fur of the Uchiha Clan, hers had a chestnut hue to it and accented her chocolate brown eyes nicely. It was a rare man who would actually threaten Aoki. He was quite a big lion and loved to throw his weight around.

"I suppose you're right. You and your brother don't belong here. You aren't Hyugas. I can see Hiashi making an exception for Neji. He's a Hyuga and a damn fine member of this pride. You are both outsiders though. You should just go." He snaps at him.

"Interesting. Well as I understand it, you are not the leader of this pride. You should take up your concerns with Hiashi. Perhaps he'll decide to agree with you. It seems highly unlikely though. Sasuke saved most of the females in this pride from a pack of hyenas. That's not the case for you. The only thing that you seem to have done thus far is shoot your mouth off. I wonder which Lord Hiashi will consider more valuable to the well-being of this pride." Itachi muses.

Hinata watches the confrontation unfold nervously. She had to do something. This could easily get out of hand and quickly.

The Hyuga lioness bounds over and gets between the two lions. There was no way that she was going to allow someone to get hurt or even die needlessly over something like this. If that meant getting between two very angry males, so be it.

"Hinata! Get away from them!" Neji cries out in horror.

The young woman might very well end up getting caught in the middle of a fight. Neji couldn't allow that to happen. It would be unthinkable for his sweet cousin to get killed for something that wasn't even her fault! That and Hiashi would never forgive him for allowing his daughter to get hurt or even killed over some pointless male posturing!

"Hinata, stay out of this. This doesn't concern you." Aoki growls at her.

"Of course, it concerns me. You're both members of my pride. I'm not going to let you h-urt each other." She stammers determinedly.

"Don't tell me that you have a soft spot for this one too?! It's bad enough that you were throwing yourself at the younger one. Have some dignity. Just because they have exotic fur doesn't mean you have to bat your eyes at them." Aoki snarls at her.

That was it! Izumi had had enough of Aoki's blustering. She wasn't going to allow him to speak about their Lady that way! So she lunges at him and pins him to the ground.

"If you ever talk about Lady Hinata like that again, I'll tear your head off. Don't be jealous just because he offered her a grooming session and she accepted. If you weren't such a jerk to her, maybe you could have groomed her instead. What do you think Hiashi will do, when he finds out that you have been speaking ill of one of his daughter sin such a vulgar fashion?!" She demands.

"You Uchihas are all alike. You think you're so special just because you have dark coats. Ha! He's not going to find out because you ain't dumb enough to tell him." He snarls at her and the two lions grapple with each other on the ground.

Itachi felt himself twitch. It was rare that he lost his temper. There were very few things that could cause him to get truly angry. Two of them were presently occurring though. A lion was throwing his weight around with a lioness and someone was insulting his birth pride. That was a bad combination.

He roars and knocks Aoki off of Izumi. Soon enough the elder Uchiha brother had the Hyuga pinned underneath him. He was snarling at Aoki and using his entire weight to keep the other male pinned down.

"I should rip your throat out for not only insulting the honor of Hinata and my birth pride, but for attacking a member of your own. I'll let Hiashi deal with you, but please do give me a good justification for ensuring that your genes are never passed on. I'm not above ensure your other tail ceases to function for the rest of your miserable existence." Itachi seethes at him.

"Fuck you, Uchiha!" He snarls at him.

"That's a good enough reason." The black furred lion says as he prepares to attack.

"Itachi! Wait! Please, don't! Things were going so well. If you attack him, you'll be kicked out!" Hinata warns him.

Itachi sighs. The Hyuga Princess did have a point. Damn it. He was so looking forward to taking this cretin out of the gene pool.

With that in mind, Itachi did what any reasonable lion would do. He compromised. Instead of killing Aoki or dismembering him, he merely knocked him unconscious. He was not in the mood to deal with the other male's stupidity, until Hiashi came back. It seemed like a good compromise.

"Are you both alright?" Itachi asks.

"I'm fine. Are you hurt?" Hinata and Izumi both answer simultaneously.

Itachi shakes his head. The very idea that scum like that could ever manage to hurt him, was quite laughable. Still he did appreciate their concern.

"He didn't land a tooth or claw on me. Izumi, you are a terrible liar. I see those cuts on your face. Come. I saw some herbs in the back. Let's get you patched up." He says as he ushers the lioness off.

Hinata shakes her head in amusement. Well it looked like Itachi had finally decided on who he wanted. So much for the elder Uchiha not being like Sasukes. Though she still didn't really know who the other dark furred lion was interested in.

She did know one thing though. It was unlikely that there was going to be a dull moment for the Hyuga Pride again, in the near future. The Uchiha brothers were certainly causing quite the stir amongst their normally very orderly pride.


	6. Chapter 6

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. To answer one guest reviewer's question, I will probably give a Hinata x Itachi story a try at some point. Maybe in the near future. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Oh and for those of you interested, the results of the Christmas Surprise are now listed on the bottom of my profile.

 **Chapter Notation:** Sasuke and Hinata see each other's human forms for the first time and there is some romantic kissing in this chapter, but I didn't feel it was enough to merit an actual warning.

Chapter 6

Sasuke watches the herd of zebra with Hiashi. He still couldn't believe this was actually happening. The older lion was agreeing to let him court Hinata, if Sasuke could prove his hunting skills were adequate.

"You may choose whichever you want to pursue. I am merely here to observe." Hiashi informs him.

The young Uchiha blinks. He had expected that Hiashi would join him in the hunt. Well he supposed it didn't matter. Sasuke had brought down zebra alone before. He could do it again.

"Alright." He says as he races towards the herd.

Hiashi watches. Well he had to give the male this much. Sasuke was certainly fast. It was almost like watching black lightning. Few lions that size would be able to match him in speed.

Sasuke soon lunges at one of the zebras. Like most lions, he lacked the grace of the lionesses while hunting. He was relying on pure strength and speed. Throwing his weight around was an understatement.

"Well he doesn't hesitate to go in for the kill." He muses.

When over four hundred pounds of solid muscle was being thrown at you, gravity had a way of making you respond. The zebra crumbles underneath Sasuke and struggles to get up. Hiashi knew that it was likely over. The only way that the beast was getting away from Sasuke at this point was to smash his skull with a powerful kick from one if its mighty hooves.

That seemed highly unlikely. The Uchiha knew to keep the zebra pinned firmly to prevent its legs from kicking. Hiashi watches as Sasuke's jaws wrap around its throat. The beast struggles for several minutes until the struggles grew weaker and weaker. In time, they ceased all together. It was a successful kill.

"You did well." The Hyuga Patriarch says as he strides over to Sasuke.

"Thank you." The youngest Uchiha replies, after releasing his bite from the poor creature's throat.

Hiashi couldn't believe he was doing this. Still he was a lion of his word. He was honor bound to do so. Sasuke had thus far met all his conditions. It was only fair.

"You may try to win her affections. If my daughter does not respond in kind, I do expect that you will cease your efforts or you will face some rather unpleasant consequences. Have I made myself clear?" Hiashi demands.

Sasuke nods. It was all that he could do to keep from wagging his tail like a dog. The young Uchiha was grateful that somehow he managed not to. It was a close call though. A really close call.

"Understood. I'll stop, if she asks me to do so. I promise." The raven furred lion promises.

"Good. Well let's get this kill back to the others." Hiashi says and Sasuke nods.

That's when Sasuke suddenly freezes and his nose starts twitching. He could swear that he smelled an African Wild Dog nearby. A very familiar one. Naruto.

"Do you smell that?" Hiashi asks as he suddenly begins sniffing the air around them determinedly.

"Yeah. It's Naruto. He's an African Wild Dog, hybrid. He's a friend. I'll be right back. I'm going to see what he wants." Sasuke says as he trots off.

Hiashi shakes his head. The younger generation was far more likely to have friends outside their species than the older ones. Things were slowly changing in the hybrid world.

The hybrids in his generation might tolerate each other when it came to a meeting, but otherwise they mostly ignored each other. That wasn't always the case for people Sasuke's age though. This was going to take some getting used to, he muses to himself.

"Naruto?" Sasuke calls out.

"There you are, bastard! I was wondering where you disappeared to. Are you alright? Do you know about the big eyed humans? I just saw some not long ago. I attacked their big thingiemerbobber. They aren't nearly as swift when they have to travel by their own paws instead of relying on those things." Naruto says brightly.

Sasuke blinks. Naruto had attacked one of the big eyed human's thingiemerbobbers? That was very brave and also difficult to do. He wondered how he had managed to destroy it.

"Yes, I heard about the big eyed humans. You really forced them to travel by paw? How is that possible? Those things are harder than solid stone." Sasuke inquires.

"Oh I just used my claws on the bottom part. The bottoms are weaker than the other areas. Not really sure why. I just know without the bottom, it doesn't work." Naruto says smugly.

Neither of them knew that the thingiemerbobbers were actually cars. Well in this case, it was a Jeep. They also definitely didn't understand about tires. Wheels in general, maybe. Tires no.

"That was quick thinking. I'm surprised. Usually, you aren't good at coming up with strategies." Sasuke says with a smirk.

"You are such a bastard!" Naruto grumbles in irritation at the familiar gentle ribbing that Sasuke gave him.

"Well thanks for the heads up and thanks for slowing them down. It was really brave. Come on. I'll take you to meet Hiashi. He'll want to know about what happened too and I think that I can probably give you a leg or something as your reward. You could take it back to your pack and share it with Karin. You guys are still trying for puppies, right?" Sasuke asks.

Naruto nods. Yeah. This was going to be their first Mating Season together as a Mated Pair. Karin hadn't come out and directly said it, but she was dropping more than a few not so subtle hints. She definitely wanted puppies and so did Naruto.

"Yeah. Thanks. Don't make a big deal out of the leg thing though. It'd be nice, but you don't have to risk getting into trouble with the head of your pride over that." Naruto says.

"I won't make a big deal out of it. Come on." Sasuke says with a smile and the two bound off together, back towards Hiashi.

The lavender eyed male watches as Sasuke prances over to him with an African Wild Dog. Oh yes, this was a very strange generation. He mentally shakes his head and decides just to go with it though.

"Hiashi, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is Hiashi. He's the leader of the pride that Itachi and I joined. Anyway, the loser says that he saw big eyed humans and attacked that thing that they use to travel around in." Sasuke explains.

"Really? That was brave of you. Though I doubt you had much success. Those things were harder than a buffalo's hide." The elder lion points out.

"Yeah. I did it. The bottom is softer. You can slash at it with your claws or jaws. The big eyed humans aren't going to be able to use it for awhile. I bought us some time. I'm not sure how much, but I suspect that they have ways of fixing it." The golden furred African Wild Dog reasons.

Hiashi nods sympathetically. Big eyed humans could be quite clever and resourceful. It was annoying really. Why they couldn't just stick to their territory and leave everyone else alone was a mystery.

"Thank you. That was really brave." He says.

"I was wondering, if maybe we could give him a leg from the kill or something to take back to his Mate." Sasuke suggests.

Hiashi frowns. Normally, he would never agree to such a thing. This was food for his pride. The dog could get his own, but Naruto had taken a great risk to protect himself and all the other hybrids in the area. Honor dictated that some sort of appreciation should be shown.

"Alright. He can choose a leg. After that, we should head back to our pride." The Hyuga Patriarch reasons.

Naruto beams and grabs a leg. Once he had it, he quickly darts off. The African Wild Dog wasn't in a hurry to test the limits of Hiashi's goodwill.

"Smart dog. Well shall we head back?" Hiashi inquires and Sasuke nods in agreement.

The two lions drag the zebra with them. Together, they were able to manage it relatively easily. Sasuke smiles once they return to the pride and sees Hinata. He had a pride now and even a chance to get a Mate. Things were definitely looking up.

Meanwhile a certain group of big eyed humans was not having nearly as good a day as Sasuke. Danzo was swearing rather colorfully under his breath as he watched Kakashi change the tires. He couldn't believe the mutt had actually slashed their tires.

It was almost like he knew what he was doing. That was impossible though. He was just a dumb animal. He had heard rumors about lion nekos, but never African Wild Dogs turning into humans.

"Don't worry so much. Kakashi knows what he's doing. He'll have the tires changed in no time." Jirayia assures his irritated colleague.

"Yes, I'm sure he will. He had better, unless he wants to risk having a really close encounter with one of the animals." The elderly man says.

Tsunade just rolls her eyes. She was used to this type of behavior from Danzo. He was a grumpy old coot in her mind. Sadly, no one could deny that he was one of the best in his field. So when he asked to tag along, they couldn't really say no.

That didn't make him any less of a jerk though. The busty blonde had hoped at some point, he would grow out of it. Unfortunately, that didn't appear to be too likely. Danzo was an old man now and set in his ways.

"That's the spirit. Have I ever told you, how much I admire your ability to always look on the bright side?" The white haired man asks Danzo cheekily.

Now it was Danzo's turn to rule his eyes. They were all brilliant in their chosen fields, but his colleagues were rather irritating. None of them had any real vision and their personalities were that of overgrown children.

Quite frankly, he wanted to discover the lion nekos and get as far away from them as possible. That was Danzo's current plan. Tragically, the nekos were being rather elusive to put it mildly. So he resigns himself to the fact that this was likely going to take awhile.

"Yes, I believe you may have mentioned it in passing." Danzo responds dryly.

He shakes his head at Jirayia's antics. Honestly, he really hoped that Kakashi finished changing the tires soon. He was tired and wanted to lay back down in his nice hotel bed.

"Alright. I think that should do it." Kakashi says as he gets back in the Jeep.

He loved wild animals, but Kakashi wasn't certain that the animals were too keen on him. Being exposed on the African Savannah like that was a jarring experience. You never really knew if you were being watched by a big predator somewhere. The animals could camouflage themselves perfectly and strike with a deadly speed. It could all be over before you even realized what was happening.

"Let's see, if it worked." Tsunade says as she attempts to drive the Jeep.

The doctor breathes a sign of relief, when the vehicle did move. Thank goodness. The silver haired man had managed to fix their car successfully. Now, they could head back to the hotel.

"Unless anyone has any objections, I'm gonna drive us back to the hotel." She says.

"No. I definitely do not have any objections." Danzo says rather quickly.

"It's fine by me. It's getting late anyway." Jirayia agrees and Kakashi nods his head to echo his friend's assessment.

Tsunade smiles and drives them off. It had been a long day and Danzo wasn't the only one eager to get some rest. After all, it took a lot of beauty sleep to maintain her level of radiance.

Elsewhere, Sasuke and Hiashi had returned to the caves. While the big eyed humans were lurking about, everyone had just decided it was safer to stick close to their hideout. Sasuke couldn't really argue with the logic.

"Brother, you're back!" Itachi says happily as he races over to Sasuke and fluffs him.

He sighs in relief when he noticed that Sasuke looked okay. The hunt must have gone well. The two lions were clearly dragging a zebra in. Maybe that meant that Sasuke would be able to officially be his courtship attempts with the pretty little lioness that he was so fond of.

"Yeah. Everyone, Naruto attacked one of the human thingiemerbobbers. We don't know how much time it will buy us, but that should slow them down for a little bit." Sasuke informs them as he returns his brother's fluffs.

The rest of the pride blinks. Naruto was damn brave. No one really wanted to get that close to the big eyed humans. Who knew what would happen, when you did?

Later that night, Sasuke approaches Hinata. He seemed excited about something. Hinata notes with amusement that the black lion seemed almost smug about something. Idly, she wonders what was going on with the handsome lion.

"Sasuke?" She asks uncertainly.

"Come with me. I got a surprise for you." Sasuke says and his tail swishes happily as he prances off into one of the caverns in the cave.

Hinata follows him curiously. She wasn't entirely certain what Sasuke was up to, but his antics had caught her attention. It must have been something good.

"You remember how I caught that zebra with Hiashi last night?" He asks.

"Mhm. Why do you ask?" The lioness inquires in confusion.

"Well I figured we might as well put the hide to good use. This is for you." Sasuke tells her as he gestures to a blanket that he had made out of the fur.

She blinks. He had made her a blanket for her human form? That was so sweet. She smiles and fluffs him.

"Thank you. It's beautiful and so soft." She muses as she sits down on the blanket and snuggles into it.

"Just like you then." Sasuke says with a smile.

Well he was smiling as much as you could in your animal form. He had to admit that he was curious to see what she looked like in her humanoid one. Still he thought it would be rude to ask this early on.

If Hinata had been in her human form, she would have blushed. Instead she gestures for Sasuke to lay next to her and starts grooming him. One good grooming session deserved another.

"You're very kind." Hinata says as she rolls her long, rough tongue against Sasuke's fur.

If Sasuke had been a housecat, he would have been purring. Thankfully, lions couldn't purr. That would have been so embarrassing, but God did that feel _**GOOD.**_

"So are you." He says as he licks her cheek affectionately.

Hinata was quite content to snuggle up to Sasuke and continue grooming him. The large black lion didn't seem to mind returning the favor. There was just something incredibly relaxing about having him clean her so attentively. She drifts off to sleep, snuggled into his warm fur.

"Beautiful." Sasuke murmurs as he wraps one of his large paws around her protectively and soon joins her in a well-deserved catnap.

Meanwhile Itachi picks up a familiar scent. Well actually a pair of familiar scents. He blinks as he sneaks out of the caves and follows his nose.

Could it really be them? Could it really be his parents? Had they seriously crossed right into the heart of the Hyuga Territory? Sure, his mother had visited him and Sasuke a few times. Still Mikoto had never been foolish enough to walk this far into another pride's territory before. That was just flirting with disaster.

"Mother? Father? What are you doing here?" Itachi asks in surprise.

"Oh baby! It's so good to see you again!" Mikoto says as she prances over and fluffs her eldest cub affectionately.

Fugaku rubs the back of his head sheepishly with his massive paw. That was Mikoto for you. There was no power on this Earth that was going to keep her away from her cubs for long. It was one of her most endearing traits. Well at least until the boys had become men. Now things were a bit more complicated.

"It's good to see you as well, but you didn't answer my question." Itachi says as he fluffs his mother back.

"Your mother wanted to see the two of you. I did as well. I hope you understand why you had to leave the pride." The Uchiha Patriarch says.

Itachi sighs and nods. He understood perfectly. It hurt, but it was the way of things and from a purely scientific perspective, it made sense. Besides, the Hyuga Pride seemed like a good one. It had worked out for the best.

"Of course, I understand. It's the way of the world. As for Sasuke, he's back in the caves with the Hyuga Pride. They allowed us to join them." Itachi says.

"Oh that's wonderful news. I'm so happy for the two of you. Are they being nice to you?" Mikoto asks.

Itachi nods. For the most part, they were being very nice. Understandably, the males were more skeptical than the females. Other than Aoki though, everyone was getting along well enough. That was especially the case when it came to Sasuke and Hinata.

"Yes, they are all very nice." He says.

Well it was only one white lie. Aoki was only one lion. He was a lion that Itachi was confident could be dealt with easily enough. There really was no reason to worry his mother over trash like that.

"Excellent news. Sasuke is doing well then?" Fugaku asks.

"Mhm. My best guesses is he's probably trying to get another grooming session in with a pretty little lioness that has caught his eye." The elder Uchiha brother answers.

Well that certainly perked Mikoto up. Like all mothers, she was quite interested in grand cubs. Sadly, she would have to sneak in visits. They'd be Hyuga Pride members, after all.

"I'm glad that he found someone that he likes. What about you?" The dark beauty inquires.

Fugaku chuckles. That was just like his Mate. She was already thinking about grandchildren. Some things would never change, it seemed.

"Well there is one lioness who holds promise. You mustn't let yourselves be seen though. I don't want a war between the prides." Itachi says.

"We'll be careful." Fugaku promises him.

"Good. I'll let Sasuke know about this. We can chose another time and meeting place. This is the hideout. There are too many other Hyuga Pride members around. It's not safe. We need somewhere else to meet." Their eldest son reasons.

His parents nod in agreement. Soon enough, they agree on a time and place to meet. With that, Itachi watches them depart with a heavy heart. He wished things didn't have to be this way, but it was just how their species was wired and for good reason.

The next day, Hinata wakes up and feels rather warm. Something was wrapped around her protectively and she felt something soft underneath her bare skin. Wait, her bare skin?

"Damn it. I must have transformed during the night." She mutters as she looks down and sees instead of her paws, there were two human hands and legs.

That's when she realized she wasn't alone. Hinata remembered falling asleep during the grooming session with Sasuke and looks around to see if the lion was still with her. He was.

He was definitely with her. ALL of him was with her. He had transformed sometime during the night as well. She couldn't help but glance at his humanoid form curiously.

"He's big _**everywhere**_." Hinata observes and feels her face heat up hotly at her observation.

Nearly all hybrids when they first transformed back into their humanoid form, did so without clothes. You could learn how to change back and forth with them on, but it took quite a bit of concentration and many years to learn. Most didn't bother with it, once they did. So she got more than an eyeful to put it mildly.

He had raven black hair that was spiked in the back and two long bangs framing the sides of his face. She never would have guessed this from his fur color, but his skin was moonlight pale. His eyes were closed, but she knew they'd be ruby red. His entire body was sleek well sculpted muscle. Naturally, two black furry ears adorned his head and he had a luxurious black tail attached just above his backside like all nekos. Oh and a really big, second tail.

"I really shouldn't stare at him when he's sleeping." She mumbles and feels her face burning even hotter.

"Mmm it's okay. You can stare all you like, whenever you like." Sasuke murmurs sleepily as his eyes slowly open.

Hinata eeps and falls backwards. It wasn't really her fault. He had just been laying on top of the zebra blanket. It wasn't like he was covered. It was only natural that she was going to get an eyeful and be curious.

"S-orry. I didn't mean to." She apologizes.

"It's alright. Like I said, you can stare all you like. I just hope that you don't mind, if I do the same." He says as he caresses her cheek.

 _Beautiful._ She was beautiful in either form, he noted. Hinata's hair was midnight blue and reached to her back in beautiful silky straight strands. Her eyes were lavender in color and she had creamy skin.

Skin that was delightfully exposed. There wasn't much left to imagination. She was all soft curves, particular when it came to her breasts, hips, and backside. A backside that was crowned by a silky looking tawny tail and upon her head were a matching pair of ears.

"I don't m-ind." She stammers shyly.

"Good. Can I do more than look or groom you tough? Because I really want to kiss." Sasuke says as he tentatively reaches out and caresses her cheek.

Hinata blushes and nods. She doubted that if she tried to talk, it'd be coherent. Thankfully, Sasuke didn't see to need more than a flustered nod because he brushes his lips against hers.

Hinata smiles and wraps her arms around his neck. His lips were warm and a bit rough, but she liked it. Idly, she muses that he tasted like red wine. There was a certain seductive elegance to his kisses, she found out once he started to deepen it.

"You taste so good." He breaks the kiss long enough to inform her as he growls in approval, before going back to kissing her.

Soft and warm. That seemed to just personify who she was. The innocent and sweet way she returned his kiss was more than enough to make his other tail ready to begin a new kind of Play Pouncing. She tasted like milk and honey, he muses.

Hinata breaks the kiss feeling a little breathless and glances at him. Sasuke wouldn't have kissed her without permission. That meant he must have asked her father for his blessing or he was suicidal.

"Did father approve of you courting me?" She asks.

"Yes, he did." Sasuke assures her and Hinata sighs in relief.

Thank goodness for small miracles. She wasn't sure what she would have done, if Hiashi had said no or Sasuke had pounced before asking. That could have ended in disaster.

"Good because I really like you." She says shyly.

"I really like you too." Sasuke says with a smile as he wraps his arms around her in a possessive and protective embrace.

She had kissed back. That meant she really liked him. Maybe she'd agree to be his Mate later on, Sasuke thought with a smile. Well it was a start at least. A lion could dream, right?


	7. Chapter 7

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and for those of you who are interested, _**Our Son**_ is now up. It's my newest Sasuke x Hinata story.

Chapter 7

Sasuke was overjoyed that Hiashi had granted him permission to court Hinata and that she had kissed him back. His instincts were screaming at him to see just how far she would let him go. Maybe she'd agree to be his Mate now.

His human mind overruled his instincts though. Sasuke didn't want to scare her off by coming on too strong, too soon. That and Hinata obviously knew that he wanted her. The evidence was rather _**hard**_ to ignore.

"Would you like to stay here with me, for the rest of the day? Unless the pride needs us?" He asks gently as he tenderly caresses her cheek with the palm of his hand.

"I'd like that." Hinata says shyly as she leans into his caress and embrace.

She liked it when he held her like this. Hinata felt safe and cherished. It was hard not to feel safe when you were in the arms of a man who could transform into a truly massive lion, really. The cherished part was unexpected though.

Hinata wasn't sure what exactly she had done to make Sasuke like her so much, but it was clear he did. The younger Uchiha went out of his way to be near her. He was always affectionate towards her. Offering her grooming sessions, a blanket, and now even his kisses.

"Good." Sasuke says with a smile and his tail swishes happily.

"Mhm." She agrees and snuggles into his embrace.

He was just so warm and comfortable, that she didn't even mind that Sasuke was getting an eyeful. Hinata felt quite content just to cuddle with her new suitor and Sasuke didn't seem to mind. It looked like he was quite happy to indulge her in this pursuit.

Sasuke smiles and nudges her until she ended up laying on her back. The bluenette was now laying on the zebra blanket, where he soon joins her. Sasuke then proceeds to wrap it around and continues with the fluffing session.

Lions often referred to cuddling or snuggling as fluffing. To a certain extent, it didn't matter what form they did it in. That was just what they called it.

"It's tempting just to wait out the big eyed humans in here." She whispers.

"Yeah. If the pride needs us though, we'll help them. For now, let's just enjoy the moment. Stupid big eyed humans, always have to go and make everyone nervous." He mutters as he glides his hand along the length of her arm and over the curve of her hip.

Fluffing was very important in lion neko culture. It was a way of expressing affection and offering reassurance. It also had another benefit. It exchanged scents. You could tell if a lion had a pride or not, based on their scent. Sometimes, you could even tell which pride they belong to.

This was especially important when it came to newborn cubs. Female lion nekos were slightly different from their animal counterparts. Instead of going off completely alone for a few weeks to have their cubs, they would sometimes take their Mate with them. It just depended on how badly the rest of the pride needed him really.

"I don't like how they scare everyone. We can't let them find out that we exist or else they'll probably hunt us. Maybe they'll try to eat us." She mumbles.

"I wouldn't let anyone eat you." Sasuke assures her and Hinata smiles.

She snuggles further into his muscular chest and enjoys being held. Yes, she felt completely safe in his arms. For good reason. Sasuke was as proud pride male. He wouldn't let anything happen to the lionesses or cubs in the Hyuga Pride.

"I know you wouldn't." She whispers and places a feather light kiss against his lips.

"That's right. We'll be safe. Don't worry. We've all dealt with big eyed humans before. It's nothing new. They'll leave eventually." Sasuke assures her as he continues fluffing her.

Obviously, there were exceptions. Sometimes the lion couldn't leave the pride to be with his lioness as she had the cubs. A lion couldn't leave, if he was the only adult male in the pride. That was just a given. Thankfully, that wouldn't be an issue for them.

If he and Hinata had cubs, he could slink off with her easily. The Hyuga Pride had many adult males. It wouldn't be a cause for alarm, if he left with her for a few weeks.

"I hope so. I have a bad feeling about this time." She admits.

"It'll be alright. You don't have to worry about anything. We have a large pride and the other hybrids are also on the look out for the big eyed humans. If they try anything, we'll know in advance and be ready." Sasuke assures her as he kisses her forehead.

Hinata smiles and decides to worry about it later. It was very hard to stay upset when you had a handsome male curled up next to you. A handsome male who was currently fluffing her rather attentively.

"Alright." She mumbles as she soon drifts back to sleep in his arms.

Meanwhile Danzo had snuck off away from the hotel. He was going to find these nekos, if it was the last thing he did. Time was running out. The old man knew that he had to secure his legacy somehow.

Right now, he was a well known and respected name in his field. That wasn't good enough though. He wanted to do something that would get his name written in textbooks. He wanted to be famous like Charles Darwin or something.

"If I were a cat person, where would I hide?" He muses to himself.

Naturally, he decides to check feline territory. He enters a place that he knew was frequented by leopards. Unbeknownst to him at that very moment, he was being watched by three of them.

"It's a big eyed human again." Kankuro says from his position in the tree.

"Yes. This time he's alone though. They must have gotten their thingiemerbobber fixed." Gaara observes.

He didn't like it. If there was one thing that the red head absolutely couldn't stand, it was humans in his territory. That was just unnatural.

Honestly, big eyed humans were so rude. They had absolutely no respect for borders. It was like they couldn't smell the very clear markers that he had put claiming the area. Well that he, Kankuro, and Temari had put to claim the area, he mentally corrects himself.

"What should we do?" Temari asks.

Gaara frowns as he considers his answer. The big eyed humans really liked their big eyes and those other things they carried. He didn't know that those other things were called cameras.

Suddenly, the red head got an idea. If they took the big eyed human's things away, maybe he'd leave. It was worth a shot.

"We need to take away his belongings. I think if we break them, he'll leave. It's a risk, but it's that or just wait until he leaves. We have no idea how long that could be though." Gaara points out.

His siblings nod and they all slink down from their tree. Luckily, the thingiemerbobber was partially open. The window was down. That mean that there was a chance that their plan could be successful.

The three leopards sprang into action and rushed towards the Jeep. Quickly, they snatched the camera out of his hand and bounded off. Danzo stares dumbstuck as three big cats raced off with his camera in their mouth.

"Did that really just happen?" He asks to himself in astonishment.

The elderly man pinches himself and winces. Nope. That still hurt. He wasn't dreaming. Three leopards actually stole his camera. It was almost as if they had planned on doing so, but that was impossible. Wasn't it?

"Perhaps it isn't just lions that can shift." He muses to himself with a smirk.

Of course, he had no proof. It was just a hunch. Damn it. Now he was going to have to explain to Tsunade, Jirayia, and Kakashi why one of the cameras went missing.

That was going to be annoying. He'd never hear the end of it from any of them. His only hope was to come up with a suitable excuse. The leopards ate my camera, didn't seem like it was going to cut it.

"Hey! Watch where you are going!" An irritated voice calls out a few minutes later as the Sabaku Siblings streak across the Savannah.

The leopards skid to a halt to see who was speaking to them. All of them sigh in relief when they realize who it was. It was Karin. Karin and Naruto. The two of them were chewing on a bone together.

"Gaara? Um hey, guys. What's up and why did you nearly run us over?" Naruto asks in confusion as he tries to calm down his rather annoyed Mate.

"We saw another big eyed human. This time he was alone. We took one of his belongings. Maybe, he'll go away now." Gaara says.

Karin's eyes widen. She couldn't believe that the leopards had been so foolish. That was just courting disaster. Didn't they know what the big eyed humans were capable of? That was crazy.

"Do you all have a death wish? Why would you do something like that?" She demands.

"We thought it might scare him off." Temari defends their actions.

Karin just rolls her eyes. Frankly, she was shocked that the leopards would do something that crazy. Normally, they were rather cautious cats. She decides not to dwell on the matter further. She was just grateful her Mate wasn't that crazy.

"That's pretty awesome! I slashed the bottom of their thingiemerbobber. Sasuke was so impressed by it, that he gave me a zebra leg from his kill." The blonde African Wild Dog says.

Karin sputters. What?! Naruto had done what?! Was he suicidal?! What was wrong with these people?! Had everyone lost their minds?!

"NARUTO, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE SO RECKLESS! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" She thunders at him.

Naruto gulps. Uh oh. Apparently, Karin didn't think that his idea was as brilliant as he did. He was glad that she was worried about him, but she didn't need to freak out like that. He was fine.

"I bought us some time. I couldn't let the big eyed humans go that far into neko territory. If the humans find out about them, they'll probably find out about us. Really, I was just trying to save our people." He says in a rush, hoping that would cool his Mate's fury.

"Just don't do something like that ever again, especially not after we have puppies!" She says with a sigh.

"I'll be more careful. I promise." He says and nuzzles her.

The leopards watch the lovers' spat in confusion. All three of the siblings felt rather uncomfortable. So they decide to make a graceful exit.

"We'll see you later. It looks like the two of you have a lot to discuss." Gaara says as they head off and Naruto nods in agreement.

Meanwhile back with the Hyuga Pride, Itachi goes to find his brother. He blinks when he picks up his scent in one the rooms in the back, along with Hinata's. Well Sasuke certainly acted fast.

He shakes his head in amusement and knocks on the wall before the entrance. It was probably best to let them know he was coming. He didn't want to stumble upon his brother in a compromising situation.

"Whose there?" Sasuke calls out.

"It's me, Itachi. I have a surprise for you. Come on." His brother replies.

Sasuke sighs. He wasn't particularly happy that fluffing time got interrupted with Hinata. She had been sleeping so cutely on his chest. He hated to wake her, but it looked like Itachi had already done that.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to be back soon." Sasuke says as he kisses her cheek and wiggles out from underneath her.

He swiftly changes back into a massive black lion and bounds off to see what Itachi wanted. Hinata blinks and changes back to her lioness form, when she realizes that Sasuke was heading off with his brother. She sighs and decides it must have been something important.

She sighs and decides to go see what the other lionesses were doing. Hinata smiles when she saw that they were playing with the cubs. That should be fun.

"Hinata, there you are. Where were you, ALL night?" Izumi asks with a sly smile.

Well she was smiling as slyly as you could when you were a lioness. Hinata was grateful that she was now in her animal form. At least this way, the other woman couldn't see her blush.

"I w-as busy." She mumbles shyly and cleans her paw.

"She was with Sasuke. You can tell cause she's covered in his scent. They must have fluffed a lot." Hanabi says bluntly and Hinata flails.

Well there was no faster way to get a lioness's attention than to mention males, cubs, or food. In this case, it was definitely the first and there was the possibility of more cubs being born into their pride as well.

"Hinata, you know that you are going to have to tell us the details now. There's no way to keep a secret in this pride. So fess up. What happened?" Izumi gently ribs her friend.

"Well he said that he had a surprise for me. Sasuke made me a nice zebra blanket." Hinata begins nervously.

The other females blink. Oh yeah. That was definitely a courting gift. Sasuke clearly wanted to pair off and wasn't shy about making his intentions known.

"What happened next, big sister?" Hanabi asks excitedly, eager to hear more of the story.

"Well we laid on it. We groomed each other and it was very relaxing. I guess we fell asleep. When I woke up, I realized he must have transformed subconsciously during the night." She continues on.

Izumi nods. She gestures for the other lioness to continue with her tale. This was getting good. All the lionesses giggled at that last part. They knew what that meant. Hinata had likely gotten an eyeful.

"He saw me peeking though. That was really embarrassing. He said that I could look as much as I liked and we ended up kissing. Sasuke is a really good kisser and I like it when he holds me in his human form. We were fluffing each other in our human forms and then Itachi knocked. He said he had a surprise for Sasuke and that's what happened." The bluenette finishes shyly.

Izumi smiles. Well that sounded very promising. She was a little curious about what surprise Itachi had in store for his younger brother, but decides to push that thought to the side for now. A potential Mating was far more important.

"It sounds like he really does intend to take you as his Mate. How do you feel about that? You're young. Most lionesses tend to explore their options a little more before settling down, but I doubt you are going to find a better match and you do seem to like him." She muses.

"Well it is pr-etty early. This is my first season, but I really do like him. He's very kind to me, a wonderful fluffer, and an amazing kisser. He's also strong and brave. I mean I don't see what else I would really need. Other than finding out if he wants cubs or not." She mumbles.

That was all that Hanabi needed. As far as she was concerned, that was a Mating. The little lioness couldn't contain her excitement.

"Big sister found her Mate!" She exclaims rather loudly, much to Hinata's embarrassment.

"Hanabi, show a little restraint. It's not official yet." Izunmi chides her gently and the little lioness pouts.

Adults were no fun sometimes. Hinata found her Mate. Everyone should be celebrating. She didn't know why they had to keep it a secret. Adults were really weird!

"Itachi, this had better be good. Hinata was sleeping." Sasuke grumbles.

"Oh yes, I saw that. It looks like you are making rather significant progress towards winning her heart. You're completely drenched in her scent. Mother is definitely going to notice that. So is father for that matter." He informs him as he leads Sasuke off to the meeting spot.

Sasuke's eyes widen. _"Mother is definitely going to notice that. So is father for that matter."_ Itachi was taking him to see their mother AND father.

"I can't believe mother came this far into Hyuga Territory. I mean she's prowled about at the edges before, but this is the heart of their lands. Did father really come with her?" Sasuke asks in a low whisper.

It was as if he thought saying it out loud would jinx such an occurrence. Itachi couldn't blame him. The elder Uchiha brother had been almost positive that neither of them would ever see their father again. It was just the way of the world.

Once male cubs were grown, they were usually driven out of the pride. This wasn't because the fathers didn't care for their children. Most of the time, they did. It was just a way to spread their genes and normally a matter of distance. Most young males would travel many miles, before finding a pride of their own. By that point, it was generally a practical matter.

"Yes, he really came with her. I'm still not sure how she talked him into it, but she did. Come on. We don't want to keep them waiting." Itachi says.

It didn't take them long to get to their meeting spot. It was the cave that Sasuke and Itachi had been staying in before they joined the Hyuga Pride. Upon seeing Itachi and Sasuke, Mikoto immediately bounds over and fluffs her sons.

"It's so good to see you again, baby. My, how you've grown." The dark lioness says as she fluffs her cubs affectionately.

It didn't matter how old they got. To her, they would always be her babies. She supposed it was that way for all lionesses really.

"She's right. You've both gotten so big." Fugaku agrees as he trots over to his sons in a far more dignified fashion.

Their father was always the picture of what a lion neko was supposed to be. Proud, strong, and very traditional. He would defend his pride to the death and followed the Old Ways. Sasuke and Itachi were rather modern in contrast.

Of course, they would defend their pride to the death. Still there were several key areas where they diverged from their father. They had no issue being friends with hybrids of other species and if they had their way, their adult sons wouldn't be driven off from the pride.

"Father, it's good to see you." Sasuke says as he prances over and fluffs him.

Sasuke had always sought his father's approval. Itachi and Fugaku had a more detached relationship. Perhaps that was only to be expected. They were both naturally very competitive lions, after all.

"It's good to see you as well, Sasuke. Though judging by your scent, you have been _seeing_ quite a lot of someone else and rather recently. Itachi mentioned that a lioness had caught your eye. He's never lied to me before, but I guess hearing it and smelling it are two different things. I suppose that I'll always see you as that black furball that loved to chase my tail, no matter how big you get." He admits.

The youngest Uchiha covers his face with his paw embarrassedly. It was one thing for Itachi to know he was trying to court Hinata. It was another to hear his father talk about it so bluntly.

"Oh dear, you are embarrassing the poor boy." Mikoto says with a giggle.

"I'm supposed to embarrass him. I'm his father. He'll understand when he has cubs of his own one day. Though at the rate he is going, he'll probably sire his first litter before Itachi does." He notes in amusement.

This earns Fugaku a dirty look from his eldest son. Not everything had to be a competition. Idly, he notes that his father was right though. If he didn't start courting a lioness more seriously soon, it was highly likely that Sasuke would become a father before him and that just wasn't right. He was older than Sasuke!

"Some things will never change." Mikoto observes with mirth and Fugaku nods his head in agreement.

"Well tell me more about this little lioness of yours." Fugaku says.

It was a rare occasion where a lion found out what became of his adult male cubs. He figured he might as well make the most of it. It would be nice to know for sure that the Uchiha Pride's genes were successfully spreading out and that Sasuke was happy.

"Fugaku, don't embarrass him further. You had your fun." Mikoto says.

"I'm just having a conversation with my son. Isn't that what you wanted?" He replies smugly and Mikoto sighs.

He had her there. It was impossible for her to refute that point. Still she just hoped that Fugaku didn't traumatize their youngest cub too much. She did want grandchildren, after all.

"She's beautiful and a skilled huntress. She's a little shy, but she gives great grooming sessions and is a very good fluffer." Sasuke says.

"Ah well those are all good things. I'm sure that she will come out of her shell sooner or later. Lionesses do tend to go crazy over a nice, thick mane. Once they go into heat, that'll generally overcome any shyness" He says smugly.

Itachi shakes his head. His father was certainly asking for it. 3, 2, 1. SMACK. Mikoto swats her lover upside the head with her mighty paw.

"Pervert." She mutters in annoyance as her tail swishes around in a huff.

"As I recall, you never protested my perversion before. In all sincerity, I am very happy for you, Sasuke. I hope that your first litter goes well." He says and fluffs his youngest son.

Sasuke smiles and fluffs back. It was nice to see his father. He knew that it couldn't last though. Their parents would have to leave and quickly. It was too risky. If they were seen, it could mean war between the two prides.

"Thank you. I missed you both, but you should go." He whispers.

"He's right. It was very risky for the two of you to come this far into another pride's territory." Itachi points out.

The parents sigh and nod. Their sons were right of course. This was a big risk for them to take. Still they each felt it was worth it.

"You're right. Let's go, my love." Fugaku says as he trots off and Mikoto follows him.

"I hope that we have such a strong Mating." Sasuke says.

"Me too. Well I suppose I should pay more attention to the lionesses in our pride. I can't let you have cubs before me after all." Itachi says with a smirk.

Sasuke twitches. Really? Itachi wanted to go there huh? Ha! He was already kissing and fluffing with Hinata. He was WAY ahead of Itachi when it came to siring cubs.

"Oh really? You don't even know who you want yet." Sasuke says smugly.

"Oh well I have a lot of females who seem to be interested in at least entertaining the idea. There is one that I am leaning towards more strongly than the others. Izumi. I liked that she put Aoki in his place." He says.

Sasuke nods. Well that was definitely a point in her favor. He didn't particularly care for Aoki either.

"I'm still going to have cubs before you, but I'm glad that you have found someone who caught your eye." Sasuke says.

"Foolish little brother, you don't actually think that you are going to have cubs before me. I know you aren't that foolish." Itachi says as he bounds back to the pride and Sasuke follows him.

"We'll see about that!" Sasuke retorts as he follows his brother back to the Hyuga Pride.

They were going home. Sasuke and Itachi had found a pride. They had a home. Both brothers now had a lioness in mind for their Mate.

There was just one problem. The big eyed humans were lurking around somewhere. At the moment though, that was the furthest thought from either of their minds.

The Uchiha brothers were far more interested in Mating than big eyed humans. Neither of them could possibly be blamed for not realizing that this was just the calm before the storm. A storm named Danzo.


	8. Chapter 8

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 8

"You're telling me that some leopards stole your equipment?" Tsunade asks Danzo in disbelief a few days later.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. I know that it sounds crazy, but that is what happened. I understand that it's natural for them to be curious about Jeeps and things like that, but I never imagined that they would be that bold. Leopards are known for being rather elusive and shy. It was the strangest thing." He mutters.

Tsunade raises an eyebrow. If she didn't know better, she would say that Danzo was drunk. Unfortunately, she did know better. Danzo rarely drank and when he did, it was never to excess.

That meant that he was saying all this stone cold sober. To Tsunade, that was even more terrifying. Was Danzo finally losing control of all of his marbles? Maybe it was time for him to retire.

"Danzo, maybe you should take the day off." Tsunade says.

"I'M NOT CRAZY!" Danzo snaps at her and suddenly every pair of eyes in the Dining Hall was on him.

Kakashi sighs. This was getting out of hand. Tsunade was probably right. Danzo would likely do well to take a day or two off. Maybe the heat was getting to him. The elderly man was certainly not used to the sometimes brutal climate that was common in this part of the world.

"We know that you aren't crazy. This type of heat can play tricks on anyone's minds. I really do think it would be best, if you took a day or two to rest." The silver haired man says.

Danzo growls. He couldn't believe this. He had always known that his colleagues were skilled in their fields, but useless on a personal level. The elderly man had just never expected them to be this utterly infuriating.

"Fine. I'll take the day off." He mutters.

"Danzo, you don't need to be so hostile. We are just worried about you. That's all. We aren't insulting your abilities or questioning your sanity." Jirayia assures him.

He had never seen the other man so hot under the collar before. It was disturbing to watch. Something had to be going on. Danzo was many things, but he had never been this overdramatic before.

"I know that you weren't. Well good luck with filming for today." He mutters as he heads back to his room.

Jirayia sighs and follows him. He knew that this wouldn't end well. The white haired man knew that he would have to talk to his colleague before this got out of control.

"Danzo, I know that there is more to this story than you are telling us. I want to know the whole truth. What really happened out there?" He asks.

The elderly man looks at Jirayia with a raised eyebrow. Hmm. So he was more perceptive than he let on. Interesting. It didn't matter though. He certainly wasn't going to tell Jirayia the truth.

This would be the greatest scientific discovery of the century. He wasn't going to share credit with the other man. It didn't matter that Jirayia suspected nekos existed as well. No. He wouldn't share his space in the textbooks with him.

"I have no idea what you mean. I think that I just got overheated. Perhaps you are right. Some rest is the only thing that I need. I deeply regret my earlier behavior. I will apologize to our coworkers, once I am well again." Danzo assures him.

Jirayia didn't buy that for a second. He knew that something was going on. Sadly, it appeared that Danzo wasn't going to tell him what it was willingly. Jirayia knew when to pick his battles. Now wasn't the time.

"Alright. Don't worry about it. We've all been there. I'm sure they'll understand." The other man says.

Danzo nods his head "gratefully." Well at least the idiot wasn't going to push. That was something. He wasn't entirely certain what he would have done, if Jiraiya hadn't backed off.

It was important to keep up appearances. Until he could prove that nekos existed, he would have to play nicely with the other researchers. It was unfortunate, but it was just the reality of the situation.

"I'll see you later. I imagine the three of you are eager to begin filming for the day." Danzo offers a forced smile.

He could only hope that Jirayia would take the smile at face value. Danzo really didn't want to socialize with him further at this point. Maybe he would get lucky and Jirayia would just leave him alone.

"Yes, we are very eager to get started. Don't worry. You'll be back out in the field in no time." The biologist says as he winks at Danzo and leaves.

"Good luck! Hopefully, you'll capture something amazing." Danzo calls out "good-naturedly."

Meanwhile back at the Hyuga Pride's Hideout, Sasuke was giving Hinata a rather thorough grooming session. The entire pride was just lazing about after enjoying a nice lunch. Everyone was content and feeling rather sluggish.

Well almost everyone was feeling rather content and sluggish anyway. Clearly, the Uchiha brothers had other things on their mind. Sasuke was cleaning Hinata's beautiful fur coat and Itachi was talking rather animatedly with Izumi. Neither of the lionesses was exactly protesting the attention, so the other pride males were reluctantly ignoring it.

"Mmm. That feels nice." Hinata murmurs in approval as she begins to return the favor.

There was just something so relaxing about the feeling of his tongue against her fur. It both lulled her into a state of contentment and was erotic at the same time. Hinata was just grateful that she hadn't gone into heat yet. Otherwise, she probably would have tried to entice him to go back into one of the more private caves.

"Good. It's supposed to feel that way." Sasuke says with a smile and his tail swishes happily.

Hinata was definitely receptive to his advances. Sasuke was confident that she was just a little on the shy side. That was only natural. It was the first time either of them would be old enough to Mate.

"So Izumi, what do you like to do when you aren't hunting or sleeping?" Itachi asks.

"Oh I'm quite fond of making clothes." She says happily.

"Well that's a useful skill. What kind of clothes do you enjoy making?" The elder Uchiha brother replies.

Itachi wasn't exactly sure what would be the best way to indicate his possible interest. It wasn't the Mating Season. Izumi wasn't in heat and she wasn't as young as Hinata. She was a mature lioness and would see through that grooming ploy that Sasuke was pulling with Hinata from a mile away. Therefore, a more subtle approach was necessary.

"Oh all kinds. I could make you a pair of boots if you like." She tells him.

"That'd be nice. Tragically, our human forms just don't have very strong paws." He says and Izumi nods in agreement.

Izumi wasn't entirely certain if Itachi was flirting with her or just being nice. She decided to just go with it for the moment. There was no reason not to enjoy attention from a handsome lion.

While Sasuke and Itachi were doing their best to win over their respective lionesses, Aoki was speaking with Hiashi in another one of the caves. The lion couldn't let this stand. He had to try to make Hiashi see reason.

"Hiashi, you know how much I admire you as a leader. I would never question your judgment, but I do not think this is wise." He whispers.

Hiashi raises an eyebrow. That sounded suspiciously like questioning his judgment. Still he supposed that he should at least hear the other lion out.

"Peace, Aoki. You have every right to voice your concerns on whatever matter it is that is troubling you. I am just uncertain as to which matter that is. Elaborate. What aren't you sure is a good idea?" The Hyuga Patriarch asks.

Aoki sighs. He knew that this was a gamble and a desperate one at that, but he couldn't just standby. The Uchiha Pride males were slowly taking over their pride. Why couldn't anyone else see that? It was sheer madness.

"It's the Uchihas. I do not believe that they are a good fit for our pride." He states bluntly.

Maybe Hiashi would appreciate his honesty. Aoki didn't see any benefit in beating around the bush. He wasn't sure how he could have broken that more gently, even if he wanted to.

"And what makes you think that? They are both strong lions and good hunters. Sasuke and Itachi appear to be getting along well with the other members of our pride. I see no reason to be concerned." The lavender eyed lion replies.

"They are slowly winning over the lionesses. Don't you see? Eventually, they'll try to oust us." He says.

"I shall monitor their behavior more closely. I must admit that I think that you are just being paranoid. However, I will certainly take your concerns into account." Hiashi informs him.

Aoki breathes a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. It didn't look like Hiashi thought that he was questioning his judgment. That could end very badly.

"Thank you. You are most generous and wise. That is all that I could ever ask of you." Aoki says and Hiashi nods in agreement.

A few hours later, Danzo waits for his teammates to leave. Then he quickly departs from the hotel after gathering some more of their team, a Jeep, and quite a bit of equipment. He now had a hunch that it wasn't only lions who could assume human form.

Leopards might also have that ability. Fortunately, one of the leopards in question was easily identifiable. He had a reddish tint to his fur. It shouldn't be difficult to track him down.

"There is a leopard with reddish fur. I would like him darted and to study him further. I believe that the information that we obtain from him might be invaluable as it pertains to studying fur mutations." He explains.

Thankfully, his team accepted that explanation at face value. That was very good news. He wasn't in the mood for long and drawn out explanations. What mattered most was finding that leopard!

A short while later, luck was on Danzo's side. He smirks when they stumble upon a strange, but beautiful sight. There were three leopards lounging underneath a tree. One of them had the reddish fur that he was looking for.

"Dart them all. We should study the three of them if we can, but the red one gets the highest priority." He says simply.

Perfect. It was perfect. This could not have worked out better. The three leopards were asleep. That meant there was a good chance they could get some darts in them before the cats even work off.

"Yes, sir!" His team says as they fire off the darts.

He smiles when he realized that the idiots were good for something. They certainly had good aim. All three leopards were darted. The slight sting to their backsides must have woken them up though.

Suddenly, all three leopards snarled and try to run off. Danzo has the Jeep chase them. The running would likely spread the tranquilizer through their systems faster. Surely, at least one of them would stumble over.

"Ah ha! That's it!" He says a few minutes later, when one of the leopards stops and roars at the other two.

The first two leopards hesitate, but then run like bats out of Hell. The third appears to glare at the Jeep and bares his fangs at it. It was obvious though that the darts were having an effect. His legs were wobbly and his eyes were clouded.

"I really hate big eyed humans." Gaara mutters to himself as he lunges at the Jeep.

He didn't get far. Unfortunately for him, the tranquilizers had run their course. He soon tumbles over and falls "asleep."

"That's better. Wait a few minutes. I want to make sure it took completely. The last thing we need is a half conscious leopard trying to attack us. Those teeth are deadly." Danzo points out.

The other members of the team do as Danzo says. None of them were particularly eager to face a leopard's fangs either. After awhile, they load Gaara into the back of their Jeep. (After suitably restraining him, of course.)

Unbeknownst to them, a certain baboon had seen everything. Suigetsu's eyes widen in horror when he realizes a leopard neko had been taken prisoner. He generally wasn't the biggest fan of nekos, except for Sasuke. Sadly, he knew what this meant. He had to call for another Emergency Meeting.

There was just no other way around it. The safety of hybrids everywhere was at stake. The big eyed humans certainly couldn't be trusted to live in peace and harmony with them. (They couldn't even get along with other humans most of the time, so they definitely weren't going to get along with hybrids!)

"Damn it." He mutters as he rushes off to call the meeting.

Scarcely an hour or two later, Sasuke's grooming session with Hinata was interrupted by the news. Suigetsu had called an Emergency Meeting. Everyone blinks and quickly rises to their feet.

No one ever wanted to be late to an Emergency Meeting. There was a reason why they were called emergencies. These were not drills. Not a single hybrid would miss them, if they could avoid it.

"It's time to go. Everyone that has been assigned to stay behind to watch the cubs, do so. Everyone else, follow me." Hiashi says as he leads his family (and the Uchiha brothers) outside of the caves and they head off towards the designated spot.

"You notice how we used to have a lot less Emergency Meetings, before they showed up?" Aoki whispers to Neji.

"I have noticed that. It's not their fault though and it's foolish to suggest otherwise. What are you trying to say? Do you believe that Sasuke and Itachi are somehow working with the humans? Preposterous." The lavender eyed lion growls at him.

Aoki sighs. Things were not going according to plan at all. At least, Hiashi was considering what he said. Neji apparently wouldn't even do that.

It didn't make any sense. He knew that the other lion wasn't anymore happy about the Uchihas being there than he was. Neji should be his natural ally in this instance. He shouldn't be growling at him.

"I'm not suggesting that. I'm just saying that they are bringing bad luck to our pride." He mutters.

Neji tilts his head as if considering this. Maybe that was possible. How could they really prove it though?

"Perhaps, but you are going to need much stronger evidence than happenstance like this." The other lion says as he continues following Hiashi to the meeting place.

Once everyone had arrived, Suigetsu strides over to the center. He was the one who had called the meeting. So all eyes were on the baboon.

"You all know that I hate calling meetings like this. They are such a pain in the ass, but I had to. It seems that one of the leopard nekos has been captured. We need to mount a rescue mission, before the big eyed humans know that the leopard is a hybrid." He states and everyone gasps.

This was every hybrid's worse fear. If humans found out that they existed, it might very well mean the end of all of them. Suigetsu sighs. He didn't like causing a panic, but they had to help that leopard.

"If they recently took them, then there will be tracks. We can follow the tracks." Sasuke says.

Hiashi nods. That was true, but it didn't solve their problems. Finding the big eyed humans and the leopard was only half the battle. The other half would be getting them out of there, without getting caught.

"The humans have these strange fangs. It stung us and made us sleepy." Temari says.

She felt tremendously guilty. Gaara had sacrificed himself to save her and Kankuro. They had to find him. They had to rescue him.

"I've seen those fangs before. If you let them hit you, you will get sleepy. The more of them that hit you, the faster it works. If you run when you get bit, it only makes it worse." Mei says knowledgably.

Mei was another leopard Neko. She was a few seasons older than the Sabaku Siblings and as such was aware of useful tidbits like this. Sadly, that useful knowledge wouldn't help Gaara though.

"Good to know, but how are we going to get our brother back? Gaara stayed behind to distract them while we got away. He risked his life for us. We can't just leave him there." Kankuro says.

"I think it may be time to call in the big paws." Kisame says as he crawls over to them.

Everyone but the Uchiha Brothers looks confused at that remark. The big paws? What did that even mean.

"I'm afraid that you have lost me. To whom are you referring to?" Hiashi inquires.

"They're from the next territory over. Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha are trackers and Mikoto knows all about humans. She's watched them a lot." Kisame says.

Hiashi blinks. Uchiha? That was Itachi and Sasuke's last name. Kisame was suggesting that they bring their parents on this question.

"I'm not certain how I feel about involving hybrids that aren't from this territory, but we do need to get Gaara back. This isn't just a matter of what goes on in our lands anymore. This impacts all hybrids." He says after hesitating for a moment or two.

"Exactly. Sasuke, Itachi, go get your folks. We need to come up with a plan." Kisame instructs them.

Hinata trots over to Sasuke and licks his cheek. She didn't really want him to go. Not when there were big eyed humans lurking around and kidnapping people. She knew that he had to though.

"Be careful." She says.

"I will." Sasuke says with a smile and he fluffs her.

"My foolish little brother is all grown up and fluffing lionesses." Itachi chuckles and he receives a scowl from Sasuke for his efforts.

Izumi shakes her head in amusement and fluffs Itachi. Well it was good to see them both in high spirits. They were most certainly going to need it. God only knows, what the big eyed humans were really up to.

"That goes for you too. If you die, I'll kill you." She informs him bluntly.

"Izumi, that doesn't make any sense." Itachi says.

"It doesn't have to make sense! I'll find a way to do it. You mock my words." She replies and Itachi rolls his eyes good-naturedly as he fluffs her back.

"Whatever you say. Come on, Sasuke. We need to find mother and father. They'll know what to do about this unpleasant situation." Itachi says as he heads off.

Sasuke follows him. The two brothers begin their trek back to the land of their birth. The Uchiha Pridelands. It had been a long time since either of them had been there. It was bound to be one Hell of a homecoming.

"We have to figure out a way to make sure only our parents see us. I'm not really sure how the rest of the pride would react to seeing us." Sasuke whispers.

Itachi nods his head in agreement. He wasn't entirely certain how they would react either. It would only be natural that the other Uchihas would assume they wanted to challenge Fugaku and the other pride males for control. They didn't have time for such dangerous assumptions. Gaara's life was at stake.

"You're right. We need to hurry though. There is no telling what the big eyed humans are doing to Gaara right now. If they find out about our existence, it won't end well." Itachi murmurs.

Sasuke nods in agreement. The two brothers take off running. Normally, Sasuke enjoyed running. He loved the feeling of the wind in his mane and the earth underneath his paws. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times.

This could end badly and they all knew it. The hybrids could only hope that somehow they would be able to rescue the leopard and prevent the big eyed humans from finding out about them. Their very way of life was at stake.

The brothers were fast runners. It didn't take them long to enter the Uchiha Pridelands. Both of them were on their guard though. They knew their kin. Other Uchihas would probably detect them, long before they actually got to Fugaku and Mikoto.

"Careful, brother. I think we may have company." Itachi whispers.

Sasuke nods in agreement. He could smell three other lions nearby. Uchihas. All three of them were Uchihas and none of them were their parents.

"Do you think we can outrun them?" Sasuke whispers back.

"We can try. I'd rather not have to fight our family, if it isn't absolutely necessary." Itachi says as the Uchiha Brothers take off running.

The two of them made a mad dash to towards where Mikoto and Fugaku would be. They ran and they ran. The other Uchihas were in hot pursuit.

Sasuke was almost positive that they didn't recognize them yet. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Would they be more or less likely, if they knew who they were? He wasn't sure and that thought scared him.

A powerful roar soon erupts into the night once Sasuke and Itachi had come into Fugaku's view. He had recognized his sons immediately and realized what was going on. A few of their pride members were chasing them.

"STOP! STOP, THIS AT ONCE!" He roars again as Mikoto races over to her sons and fluffs them.

The other Uchihas skid to a halt. None of them were foolish enough to challenge Fugaku. Though they all did look at him in confusion.

"Sasuke, Itachi, why have you come back here after I banished you?" Fugaku demands in the most intimidating tone possible.

Itachi and Sasuke wince at the tone. They knew what Fugaku was doing though. He was trying to make it look convincing. If he let the other pride members know that he was still in touch with his sons, it wouldn't end well.

Everyone else would want their male cubs to be able to stay, if they knew the truth. Fugaku was just doing what he had to do. Despite that, it was still difficult to hear their father speak in such a harsh tone towards them.

"We need your help. A leopard neko has been captured by the big eyed humans." Sasuke says and there were gasps of horror from the rest of the Uchiha Pride.

"Are you certain of this?" Mikoto asks her cubs nervously.

They all knew what this meant. It could mean their doom. If a hybrid had really been captured, they would have to attempt a rescue mission. They would have no other choice.

"We are positive. You two are excellent trackers. We need to find him and rescue him, preferably before the humans figure out what he is." Itachi pleads.

"Shisui, you are in charge of the pride while we are gone. Mikoto and I are going with Sauske and Itachi. We must rescue this leopard and preserve our way of life. I leave the pride in your capable paws." Fugaku says.

"Yes, sir! Don't worry. I'll protect our pride." Shisui says and Fugaku nods approvingly, before bounding off with his family.

Mikoto couldn't believe it. She had always wanted their family to be together again, but not like this. This was all wrong. Now they were heading off together on what may very well be a suicide mission.

"Take us to the last place that he was seen." She says.

"Yes, mother." Her cubs say in unison as they lead their parents towards where the tracks would be the thickest.

Finding Gaara was their only option. If they couldn't rescue him, all their days might be numbered. Failure was not an option. This was now life or death.


	9. Chapter 9

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 9

"Danzo, isn't this going a little overboard? I get that you wanted a closer look because of his unique fur coloration, but he's still a wild animal. It's dangerous to bring him back to the tent. We certainly can't keep him in the hotel while you have a look at him." Jirayia asks a few hours later.

"No great scientific discovery was ever made without a little risk. Whether that risk was financial, to one's reputation, or physical safety is irrelevant." Danzo replies.

He hated to do it. Unfortunately, there was no way around it. Danzo could hardly hide the fact that he had a team bring a leopard into their field tent. Thankfully, the leopard in question had uniquely colored fur and that gave him a flimsy justification for bringing him in.

"It's that last part that I'm worried about. Those are some big teeth." The white haired man replies.

"Pft. Where is your sense of adventure? Anyway, it's a good thing that I don't need your help. I can take it from here. I have a team by me. So don't worry." Danzo assures him.

Jirayia raises an eyebrow. Danzo was really asking for it, but it seemed unlikely that the other man was suddenly going to become rational. He sighs and nods his head.

"Alright. Hopefully, they can save you." The scientist says.

"Save me from what? What do you mean? Don't beat around the bush now, Jirayia. You've never had an issue expressing your opinion before." The older man snaps at him.

"Save you from being eaten by a pissed off leopard. I'll see you later. For the record, I still think that you are crazy." Jirayia says as he heads off.

Danzo mutters some rather unflattering things about Jirayia under his breath. He was one of the top people in their field. Danzo knew how to take the proper precautions to defend himself and didn't care for the implication that he didn't! Damn Jirayia!

"How is the leopard doing?" Danzo asks.

"He's still unconscious. It's only to be expected. We gave him quite a large dose." One of his teammates says.

"Excellent. How long do you estimate that he'll be out?" The elderly man inquires.

The researcher pauses. It was always tricky to give precise estimates. A range was best. So that's what he did.

"At a minimum I'd say two hours. Could be out as much as four though. Which means we should start getting him out of here at the one hour mark. Just to be on the safe side. I'm sure you understand." He replies.

"Oh I understand perfectly. You may all leave now. If any of you inform Jirayia, Kakashi, or Tsunade about this, I will make your lives a living Hell. I have many connections in our field. I can make it almost impossible for you to secure employment elsewhere. Do you understand me?" Danzo demands.

"Yes, sir!" They all say and quickly head off.

Every one of them had the same thought on their mind. They were all glad to get as far away from Danzo as possible. He really was such a bastard.

Perhaps they would get lucky and the leopard would eat them. Most of them then quickly corrected themselves after thinking such a thing. That would be animal cruelty.

Surely, Danzo would taste awful. He probably would also give the poor animal food poisoning. Hopefully, the leopard would just kill the old grump and not eat him, most of them decided.

"Ah that's better. We're all alone now. I think I'll take a few blood samples now." He says.

Gaara mentally smirks. Ah ha! The big eyed human had sent the other ones away. This was his chance to escape!

He lets out a mighty roar as the human came near him. The red head was going to be free. Well at least that's what he thought, until he was suddenly in a lot of pain.

"Silly kitty. You didn't think that I'd actually be defenseless, did you? This my friend is what's known as a taser. Every time that you try to attack me, you will be tased. I don't know if you understand English, but I think you'll get the message after awhile." Danzo says.

Gaara glares hatefully at the big eyed human. He couldn't change back and he wasn't going to speak. He had to preserve the secrecy of hybrids. If humans found out about them, it would end in disaster.

Danzo sighs. Whether or not the beast could understand him, he didn't know. What he did know is that he had to try to get the leopard to transform. He was almost certain that the leopard was actually a neko.

"If you could transform, you would make this much easier on yourself. There's no reason why this has to become unpleasant for you. You could be famous and treated like a king. You'll be the first of your kind to ever be discovered. That or you could be stubborn and I could just have you dissected." The scientist warns him.

Gaara wasn't sure what dissected meant, but he knew a threat when he heard one. Oh how he hated big eyed humans. They were the worst of the lot. He didn't understand why they couldn't just stay in their own territory.

"Well I suppose that's to be expected. It would be too easy, if you actually spoke English. I guess that we'll just have to do this the hard way. I merely have to figure out how to change you to your mostly human form. That shouldn't be too difficult for me. I imagine that it will be quite unpleasant for you though." Danzo says.

Gaara tries to make a run for it, only to be tased again. AHHH! Damn it! That strange fang that the big eyed human called a taser, had a painful bite.

Meanwhile the Uchihas arrive back at the Meeting Place. To say that the other hybrids were rather stunned at the appearance of two more black lions was an understatement. Most had never seen one before Itachi and Sasuke and they certainly had never seen four together before.

"Our sons have told us what is going on. We must act quickly." Fugaku says and the other hybrids nod in agreement.

They all knew what Gaara's capture could mean. It could spell the end of hybrids everywhere. They had to rescue him, if they wanted to maintain their way of life.

"I can likely get a scent and we can follow it. What happens when we find Gaara and the big eyed humans is less certain." Mikoto says.

"We will help in whatever way we can." Hiashi offers and the black lioness nods gratefully.

It was an usual and dangerous situation. None of them were entirely certain where to start, but they knew they had to act. There was no other choice and time was likely running out.

Itachi and Sasuke quickly fluff their respective lionesses. This could very well be a suicide mission. They both knew that. So each brother wanted to say goodbye in their own way, just in case.

"You're coming back, right?" Hinata whispers.

"I hope so." Sasuke whispers back as Hinata returns the fluffing.

Izumi fluffs Itachi as well. She knew that he was worried. She would kill him, if he died though. She had been completely serious when she told him that much.

"As I said earlier, I will kill you. I mean it. If you die, I will kill you." She warns him and Itachi just laughs.

"Oh believe me, the message has more than sunk in. I will do my best not to die. I would rather not face your wrath." Itachi tells her with a wink.

Fugaku sighs as he considers their options. They could attempt a stealth mission, but that would raise the chances that more hybrids would get caught. Humans might overwhelm them with their strange weapons.

"I'm afraid that we really don't have a choice. Have some hybrids stay back with the cubs. We are going to take half of our people with us and try to overwhelm them with numbers. They can't take us all." The oldest black lion in the group says.

Sasuke blinks. That was crazy. His father must be desperate to be suggesting something that mad. He glances at his brother in concern.

"He's right. I don't like it, but he's right. It's our only chance. It seems Izumi and Hinata will be coming with us, unless they prefer to stay behind and watch the cubs." Itachi tells his brother.

The youngest black furred lion sighs. He wanted Hinata to be safe. She'd be better off watching the cubs. On the other hand, a selfish part of him wanted the lioness to go with them. That way he would know what was happening to her. It was all so confusing.

"Sasuke, I'm going with you." Hinata says.

"It's not safe. You should stay back with the cubs. They will need someone to protect them." The lion replies.

"I know it's not safe. Nowhere is safe now though. If we don't stop the big eyed humans now, sooner or later they will find all of us. We can't let that happen." She whispers.

Itachi shakes his head. He pitied his poor, foolish little brother. There was no way that his lioness was going to change her mind. He was suddenly glad that Izumi was much more practical than Hinata.

"I'm going as well." Izumi declares.

Itachi blinks. Well perhaps he was wrong. It looked like his beautiful lioness was also half crazy.

"You aren't going. It's far too dangerous. If Sasuke wants to allow Hinata to come along, that's his business. You need to stay where it's safe. I'm not going to risk losing you." He states firmly.

"Allow?! Are you under the delusion that you can tell me what to do? Itachi, I love you. You are an idiot, if you think you can boss me around though. Just because you have a nice fur coat and dreamy eyes, doesn't make you the boss of me. Only Hiashi can prevent me from going. I'm going!" Izumi snaps at him.

Itachi sighs. It looked like Izumi wasn't going to be reasonable. That left him with only one alternative. He had to make sure that she didn't get killed on this crazy mission.

"Well as long as you love me, I can overlook the fact that you are apparently insane." He says with a smile.

"That's better! Hey! Wait a minute…" She growls at him.

"I'm only teasing, my love." Itachi says as he licks her cheek comfortingly.

It didn't take long for the hybrids to decide who was going and who was staying behind. No matter which group a hybrid decided to join, every single one of the hybrids looked nervous. They all knew that it was now or never.

"Alright. Shall we get going?" Fugaku asks Hiashi.

"Yes, we shall. On three then?" The lavender eyed lion inquires and the Uchiha Patriarch nods in agreement.

They count to three. Once they hit three, the two proud males let out mighty roars that signaled they were moving out. It did the trick. All the "Retrieval Team" hybrids race off after Mikoto and Fugaku. They were the two best trackers that the hybrids had on their side, after all.

Back at the tent, Danzo just kept coming at Gaara. Gaara snarls at him and tries to back away. It was no use though. That damn taser just wouldn't stop tasing him.

He knew what the other man was trying to do. The big eyed human was trying to force him to turn back. He wanted to see Gaara's human form. He couldn't let that happen.

"You are a stubborn one. I'm still confident that you'll shift, if you experience enough pain. You really should make this easy on yourself." Danzo says.

He wasn't entirely certain if the beast could understand English. Still it was worth a try. Danzo really didn't want to have to hurt the neko, but he would. He would, if it meant that he would finally get proof.

 _And you should go to Hell,_ Gaara thought to himself. He had to endure the pain. He had to endure it somehow. He just wasn't sure how he was going to do that.

"I know you are a neko. Now show me!" Danzo growls as he tases him again.

Gaara growls. It felt like his head was about to split apart. The pain was complete agony. He needed to focus though. He couldn't shift. He wouldn't do it.

"You really are a stubborn one. This really doesn't have to be so hard on you. You could be treated like a king. I meant it when I said that. I am a man of my word." He continues on as he tases the big cat more.

 _A man of his word? Ha! As if any human could ever be trusted. How stupid does he think I am,_ Gaara wonders to himself. He had to find a way out of here. The leopard wasn't going to betray all of hybrid kind. He was going to find a way to escape.

Danzo sighs. He was starting to think that perhaps we was wrong. Maybe it really was only the lions who were nekos after all. This might turn out to be terribly disappointing.

"You woke up much sooner than my team said you would. A leopard shouldn't have regained consciousness that quickly. Perhaps a neko would though. Come on. Change and you won't have to suffer like this anymore. I am not a cruel man. I just want to find out the truth." He says as he shocks the big cat again.

 _I'm not a cruel man,_ Gaara mentally rolls his eyes at that. That was until he was shocked again. That was when the leopard snarled in pain.

It was complete agony. The red head was struggling to stay awake. He knew that falling asleep would be very dangerous. There was no telling what the human might do, if he fell "asleep."

"I suppose that I'm going to have to increase the setting." Danzo mutters as he does exactly that and hits Gaara again.

The red head roars in pain. It was too much. He couldn't stay conscious. As hard as he tried, he lost the fight. His body slumps to the floor and Danzo smirks as he saw that Gaara's fur was shortening.

"Ah ha! It looks like I was right! I found one! I really did it! I'm going to be famous!" He exclaims joyously.

It didn't take long for Gaara to transform into his mostly humanoid form. Danzo smirks when he realizes that he had caught it on all camera. This was amazing! He had done it! He had finally done it!

His joy didn't last long though. Suddenly, he heard several lion roars and a chorus of other animals. He blinks and looks outside the tent to see what on Earth was going on.

That's when he saw it. There had to be hundreds of animals charging towards the tent. They were lead by four black furred lions and several lavender eyed ones. It was the strangest sight that he had ever seen.

"What the Hell?" He whispers.

"Should we kill the big eyed human?" Sasuke asks his father.

"It's tempting, but we shouldn't. If he dies, the other big eyed humans will wonder what happened to him. That wouldn't do us any good. Our mission is simple. Everyone this is a retrieval mission. Do not kill the big eyed human, unless it is absolutely necessary. Do you all understand?" Fugaku roars.

There was a chorus of affirmative answers. Fugaku smiles. Good. It seemed that perhaps Sasuke and Itachi were onto something after all. Hybrids could work together for a common cause at least.

Danzo's eyes widen in horror when he heard all the animals "speak" as one. It was a terrifying combination of roars, growls, squeaks, snarls, rumbles, chirps, squawks, and other sounds. He had never seen anything like it.

These weren't normal animals. There were predators and prey animals alike. They all seemed to be working together. These had to be hybrids. Lots of them!

"Calm down. We can talk about this! Do any of you speak or understand English?" He asks nervously.

Three leopards and several lions dart inside the tent. The black lions were roaring at Danzo and the leopards were rushing towards the hybrid. That's when it dawned on Danzo what was going on.

They really were working together. This was some kind of strange rescue mission. No! He couldn't let that happen!

"Stay back!" He says as he fires of the taser towards one of the lionesses.

The lioness had beautiful lavender eyes. Black lions and lions with lavender eyes. A leopard with reddish fur. Maybe hybrids did vary slightly in appearance than their animal counterparts, he reasons.

As he was about to tase the pretty lioness, a black furred one shoves her down and Danzo hits that one instead. He blinks.

"That's impossible." He murmurs.

It looked like the black lion had tried to protect the lioness. Were these creatures capable of human emotions, he wonders to himself.

Danzo wasn't able to ponder this interesting discovery for long. The two biggest lions charge at him with their fangs bared. Another black furred one pins him down and bares his mighty fangs at the human, while other sits on the taser. He had just crushed it!

"No! Please, don't! Don't eat me!" Danzo cries out desperately.

"Did you break it?" Fugaku asks Hiashi.

"It's crushed. He can't attack us now." The Hyuga Patriarch informs the Uchiha.

Fugaku nods approvingly. Of course, Danzo didn't speak a word of Lion Neko. To him, he just heard quiet roars. He shivers in fear.

This was truly going to be the day that he died. He was sure of it. It looked like Jirayia was right, after all. He couldn't believe that this was the way that he was going to go out. He had been so close to being famous for discovering hybrids and now, he was a dead man!

The leopards quickly grab Gaara and race off. Mei, Kankuro, and Temari were all helping Gaara to get out of there. Hinata was cradling Sasuke as they ran off.

"I'll help you." Itachi whispers to her.

Izumi and Mikoto weren't far behind. The three of them assist Hinata in carrying Sasuke off. Fugaku and Hiashi stay behind to ensure that Danzo wasn't going to try anything.

They wait awhile and then decide that the cost was clear. That was when the two lions followed their family and friends. In their minds, they had won the battle.

"RETREAT! Gaara has been retrieved. Sasuke was injured, but otherwise it was a complete success. The Hyugas are going to take Sasuke back to their territory! We have won the battle, my friends!" Mikoto calls out triumphantly.

Once they heard that, the hybrids start dividing up by species. While they could work together for a common cause, it was clear that most hybrids still preferred their own race. That was just fine with Hiashi. They had other matters to attend to. Sasuke was injured.

"Hiashi, may I make a request?" Mei says a few minutes later as the lions were heading off.

"You may. I may or may not grant it, depending on the nature of the request." He says.

"Gaara's human form has been seen. His fur is easily identifiable. It's not safe for him to be out and about. It would be better, if he were to lay low in your pride's caves for awhile. I'm certain that once he awakens, he could be useful. If nothing else, he could help to watch the cubs." She offers.

Hiashi sighs. The leopard was right. Gaara was too easily identifiable and it wasn't his fault that he had been captured. The male leopard had just been protecting his siblings.

"You're right. His brother and sister are welcome to stay as well. I imagine that the three of them wouldn't like to be separated." Hiashi reluctantly agrees.

"I would like to come as well. I have knowledge of healing and that leopard is going to be in need of it. With your permission of course. I am a good huntress. I can pull my own weight. I will not be a burden on you or your pride. That much, I can promise you." She says.

Hiashi pauses. He really didn't like the idea of allowing four leopards into their sacred caves. Mei was right though. That and the Hybrid Law was still in place. They wouldn't dare attack another hybrid, unless they wanted to risk the Wrath of the Savannah being brought down on them.

"Very well. Go and tell the other leopards, that I have agreed to host the four of you for now." He replies.

"Thank you. You are most generous." Mei says as she heads off to do so.

Mei wasn't the only one who was fretting over an injured neko. Mikoto and Fugaku were glancing at Sasuke rather nervously. Neither of them really knew what sort of strange magic the human had used on him.

"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Mikoto asks nervously.

"I do not know. He's a strong neko though. If anyone can pull through this, it is him. You are both welcome to visit him to ensure his recovery whenever you like. If it weren't for the two of you, Gaara might still be a prisoner of the big eyed human. It seems the least that I can do." Hiashi offers.

"Thank you. That is very kind of you. We will likely take you up on that offer. I'm afraid that there isn't much we can do for him now and we must get back to our pride. They will be anxious to hear how the retrieval mission went." Fugaku states.

Hiashi nods in agreement. He could certainly understand that. He would be doing the same thing, if positions were reversed.

"Of course. Safe journey. Do try to stay out of sight of the big eyed humans. They are now more dangerous than ever." He whispers.

Mikoto and Fugaku nod in agreement. The Mated Pair soon depart. Both of them were eager to inform their pride what had happened.

"Sasuke." Hinata whispers and she receives only a groan in response as the youngest Uchiha continued to be carried by his fellow lion nekos.

That groan gave her hope though. He was still alive and alert enough to feel pain. Maybe he would be alright.

An hour after the hybrids had departed, Danzo gets up. He wanted to make sure that the coast was clear, before he did so. There was always the chance that they could come back.

He sighs in relief when he realizes the camera that had been filming Gaara was still in one piece. He had his evidence!

"Shame that it didn't catch the rescue mission, but this is really all I need. I am going to be famous, after all! I guess that they are intelligent enough to rescue their friend, but they didn't know about things like cameras. Well that's just rather unfortunate for them." He smirks.

His day had finally come. Finally, Danzo would be recognized by the entire world as the scientific genius that he was. It was all right on camera. Revenge was going to taste so sweet. Those hybrids would rue the day that they ever attacked him!


	10. Chapter 10

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 10

A short while later, the Hyugas and leopards arrive back at the Hyuga Caves. Hiashi leads the leopards into the back of them. This would be much easier on everyone, if the leopards kept to themselves.

"You are free to stay here. If we need you, someone will come for you. For now, the very back of the caves will be yours. I will put antelope fur over their entrances. That way, everyone will know that they are now being used by the four of you. The most important rule while you stay here is you are not permitted to be around any cubs without supervision. Have I made myself clear?" Hiashi asks.

"Very clear." Temari says and the other two conscious leopards not their heads in agreement.

"Excellent. I shall leave you to get settled in then." The Hyuga Patriarch says as he strides off.

Mei frowns. She couldn't believe that she was staying inside a lion's den. She never thought that she would see the day when she did something that crazy. Unfortunately, it looked like they would be here for awhile and it was the only way to keep them all safe.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't. What you did was smart. We're all better off here than out there. You're right. Gaara is too easily identifiable." Kankuro says to her.

She nods in agreement. Gaara stood out with his beautiful fur. The big eyed humans would find him too easily. Until the humans lost interest, this was his only real chance at survival.

"Oh I fully realize that. It just doesn't make things any easier." She murmurs.

"Thank you. You may have saved my brother's life and perhaps all of the hybrids on the Savannah by asking the lions this. It can't have been easy. At best, lions tend to ignore leopards. At worst, they consider us enemies. We hunt some of the same prey, after all." Temari reasons.

"Yes, that's what makes this such a difficult situation. Hopefully, he will wake soon. The two of you should get some sleep. I will take the first watch." Mei assures them.

Temari and Kankuro look at Mei gratefully as they curl up next to each other. It didn't take long for the other two big cats to fall asleep. Mei sighs and wraps a blanket around Gaara.

"Poor thing was forced to transform." She mutters.

If nothing else, he could at least be warm when he woke up. He was a handsome little thing. Probably barely old enough to be considered an adult leopard. He was brave though.

She had to give him that much. From what she had heard, he had stalled for time while his siblings escaped. That took courage. Courage was very sexy. He'd make strong cubs.

A few minutes later, Gaara's eyes flutter open in confusion. He immediately tries to sit up and growls in pain. Mei kindly pushes him back down.

"I wouldn't move. The big eyed human did something to you. You need recover first. I'm Mei. Don't worry. You're safe. Your siblings are also safe." She tells him.

Gaara blinks when he saw a beautiful leopard push him down. A female leopard judging by the scent and the voice. They were safe, but how?

"What happened? Where are we? Were are Temari and Kankuro?" He demands.

"We are in the back of the Hyuga Caves. I spoke with them and they agreed to allow us to stay here. Well as long as we met their conditions. I shall explain those later. As for your siblings, they're in the same cave as us. Look to your right." She tells him.

The red head does as instructed and breathes a sigh of relief. Kankuro and Temari were only a few feet away from him and they were unharmed. It was a miracle!

"Thank you." He whispers.

"You're welcome. You were kidnapped by the big eyed humans. The Savannah Hybrids split into two teams. One stayed back to watch the young and the other went on the rescue mission. We were able to retrieve you and bring you back here." Mei explains.

The young leopard blinks. They had managed to rescue him from the cruel big eyed human? It wasn't just a miracle. That was two miracles. It must be his lucky day.

"Good. What are we going to do now though? We can't stay here indefinitely." He murmurs.

"We are still working on that part. The rules are simple. If the cave has an antelope pelt hanging over the entrance, that is our new territory. Those are leopard areas. It's also VERY important that you NEVER be alone with any of their cubs. Always have a lion neko present, if you're going to be at your own around cubs. If they need us, they will come to find us." Mei continues.

Gaara nods. He didn't like it, but that was only fair. If positions were reversed, he definitely wouldn't have let any lion near leopard cubs. Not that he would have won a fight against a pride of lions, but he would have tried to get the cubs out of there.

"That's understandable. Thank you, Mei. I will forever be in your debt. It seems that you may very well have saved my life." The red head replies.

"I probably did and you're welcome. I'll hold you to that." She tells him with a sly smile and kisses his forehead, causing the red head to blush.

Meanwhile Hinata had taken Sasuke into one of the caves and laid him down on the zebra blanket he got her. Itachi sighs and watches his semi coconscious baby brother groan. This wasn't good.

"He'll be okay, Hinata. He's in pain, but he's safe now." Itachi assures her.

"I hope so. He did it to protect me." She mumbles sadly.

"Yes, he did. I'm sure that he would do it again in a heartbeat. I'll leave you to care for him. He's in good paws now." Itachi says as he fluffs Hinata.

Hinata fluffs Itachi back. It wasn't like Sasuke's fluffs. There was no promise of more. Itachi was just giving her the neko version of a comfort hug.

"Thank you, Itachi. I'll take good care of him." Hinata whispers.

"I know you will." The elder lion says as he strides off to join the rest of the pride.

Hinata shifts to her human form and lays down by Sasuke. He'd probably feel better, if he could feel her near him. Damn big eyed humans. Why couldn't they just leave them alone?

It didn't take long for Sasuke's eyes to open and for him to let out a small groan of pain. He immediately looks around in confusion and then relaxes when he sees Hinata. He manages to give her a weak smile.

"We got home?" He asks softly.

"Yes, we're home. You should rest. They hurt you. I'm not sure what the big eyed humans did to you, but it was bad. You shouldn't have jumped in front of me like that. You could have been killed." She mumbles as she snuggles against him.

"You could have been killed as well. I would rather have it be me than you." He says as he runs his fingers through his hair.

It still hurt. It hurt a lot, but this was nice. Curling up next to the beautiful neko was always nice. Sasuke smiles, despite the pain.

"You're crazy." Hinata informs him with a giggle.

"Maybe a little, but mostly I'm just in love. I'm in love with you." Sasuke says as he kisses her hand.

She blushes and snuggles further into him with a smile. He was a good lion. A little crazy, but a good lion.

"My first season is coming up. Do you want to pair off? After you get better and we deal with the humans, of course." She asks shyly.

"I'd like that. Trust me, no big eyed humans are going to keep me away from you. That goes double for those damn hyenas." He says with a smile and kisses her.

Hinata smiles and kisses back. She was really going to have train him not to jump into dangerous situations like that. He was making a habit of it really. She didn't want his luck to run out.

"No more jump in front of humans or hyenas unless it absolutely necessary. I want you to be around to see our cubs grow up." She tells him.

Sasuke's interest was definitely perked when she said the word cubs. He knew EXACTLY what cubs meant. Damn humans. He wished the ringing would stop in his head and that his body didn't hurt as much as it did.

"I'll be more careful. I promise." Sasuke assures her.

"Good. I prefer having you in one piece. It's a very nice piece." She compliments him.

"I feel the same way about you. You are a very nice piece." Sasuke says with a sly smile and Hinata feels her face burn bright red.

She couldn't believe that he had actually said that! Honestly! Males! He almost got killed by the big eyed humans and was still being a pervert!

"You're impossible." She mumbles.

"I have a beautiful and naked lioness laying next to me. I'm going to comment on it. It's only natural. I'd do a lot more than comment, if it wasn't for that damn fake fang." He grumbles.

Hinata shakes her head in amusement and wraps the blanket around him tighter, as she leans over to get the gourd. The water gourd. It was their version of a bottle or canteen.

"Here. Maybe some water will make you feel better." She says as she holds it to his lips.

"Thanks." He murmurs as he sucks on the gourd.

That did help a bit, but he was still angry. Stupid humans. They had to go and ruin everything. When he got his paws on that human that attacked him, he was going to shred him to pieces. He'd turn him into his scratching post!

Elsewhere, Danzo smirks. He finally had his proof. He immediately calls the government that was funding their research because he couldn't wait to make his announcement.

Finally, he would receive the recognition that he should have received years ago. He was going to be famous. Oh and he'd likely also be rich. That would be a nice bonus.

"Yes, I have made an amazing discovery! A new species! I caught it on camera. I would like to send you the tape. That way you can verify it and we can make the announcement. This is going to change everything!" He says happily.

"That does sound very interesting. Send us the tape. Please tell me that it isn't some new species of tapeworm or something. Such things are worth noting, but not particularly exciting to the public." Came the reply.

"Oh believe me. This will be a lot more exciting than any tapeworm! I'll send the tape immediately." Danzo says happily as he hangs up.

Not long after he hangs up, Kakashi walks over to him. Uh oh. Damn it. He knew what the other man wanted. He was likely going to ask about all of the noise.

"Danzo, I'm so glad that you are alright. Can you believe what happened last night?" The silver haired man asks.

"Yes, I'm fine. I saw it. I got lucky. I think the animals were as afraid of me as I was of them. I got it all on tape and I'm sending it back to the government. Should be worth something. I've never seen anything like it." The elderly man replies.

He wasn't lying. Danzo just wasn't telling him the full truth. He felt no guilt over this whatsoever. In his mind, he didn't owe his colleagues anything. They were an annoyance to be tolerated at best. He wasn't going to share the glory with them.

"Oh good. I'm sure that ought to get their attention. That really was something. That's amazing that you caught it on tape. That had to be a once in a lifetime event. You're lucky to be alive and to have caught it all on camera." The masked man says.

Danzo nods in agreement. He knew that he was damn fortunate to be alive. Those lions could have killed him with ease. The only question left to answer was why didn't they?

"That I am. Where are Tsunade and Jirayia?" He asks.

"Oh they went into town to pick up a few things. They should be back soon. Did you need them for something?" Kakashi inquires.

"No. I was just wondering. I can't wait to tell them about what happened last night." He says.

In reality, he didn't want to tell them anything. Danzo knew that Kakashi would mention the incident to them though. So it was important that he at least play his part.

"Of course, that's completely understandable." Kakashi says good-naturedly.

Danzo nods in agreement. Good. Good. It looked like the other man had bought it. Now he just had to convince Jirayia and Tsunade. That was easier said than done, but he was confident that he could manage.

Back at the Hyuga Caves, Aoi twitches. This was getting ridiculous. First, they had allowed the Uchiha Brothers to join them. Now, they were letting LEOPARDS into their sacred caves?! It was an outage!

Hiashi must have lost his mind. That was the only logical explanation. What was next? Were they going to take Hyenas in too?!

"Calm yourself, Aoi." Izumi informs him.

"Calm myself?! Do you not see what is going on?! Our very way of life is under threat. I do not think that Lord Hiashi understands what is going on here." He says.

Izumi raises an eyebrow. Oh boy. She could tell that this was going to get annoying and quickly. Aoi had always been a bit too big for his furs, really.

"And what do you think is going on?" Itachi demands as he strides over towards Aoi and Izumi.

He didn't like the other lion being that close to Izumi. She was going to be his Mate. Itachi wasn't completely adverse to driving that point home through Aoi's thick skull if necessary, but it would make the pride dynamics awkward.

"Hiashi isn't fit to lead anymore. He's letting in strange lions and leopards! We need someone with a clear head. If this keeps up, we are all doomed." Aoi groans.

SMACK! Itachi smacks Aoi into the cave's walls with one wave of his mighty paws. That was it. The other lion had gone too far.

"I suggest you act like a lion instead of a mouse if you truly feel that way and challenge him directly. Sulking around and whispering in other people's ears is a rather cowardly tactic. Do you not agree?" He growls.

"How dare you strike me?! You aren't even a real member of this pride." Aoi roars furiously, once he gets up.

"I might not have been born into this pride, but I'm more loyal than you are." Itachi snaps right back at him.

That was when more lions tip toed out to see what was going on. The sounds of the commotion alerted even Hinata. She tells Sasuke to stay there and shifts into her lioness form, before darting off to investigate.

"What's going on?" Hinata whispers to her sister.

"I'm not sure really. I know that Itachi and Aoi are having some sort of disagreement. That's all though." Her younger sister whispers back.

Hinata frowns. She didn't like the sound of that. They had to all stick together. The big eyed humans were their enemies, not each other. Lion against lion just wasn't right.

That's when Aoi lunged at Itachi with his fangs bared. Hinata darts between them and slams him to the ground. She wasn't going to let the other lion start a war.

"Aoi! Stop this! You can't fight other pride members like this! We all need to stay together!" She yells at him.

"Hinata, stay out of this. That Uchiha has been asking for this for a long time. I know that you are throwing yourself at his brother, but get out of my way. You're a Hyuga Lioness. Have some pride. Have some loyalty to your family." He growls.

The lavender eyed lioness snarls at him. She had never been more furious in her entire life. How DARE he imply that she wasn't loyal to their pride?! She was the one defending a pride mate while he was picking fights.

"You are the one who needs to show more loyalty!" She snaps at him.

"Excuse me? Just because they have dark fur, doesn't make them special. We are family. They are just strays that we took in. You'd do well to remember that." The other neko growls at her.

"You'd do well to back away from my daughter." Hiashi says as he prowls over to them.

Aoi blinks. Damn it. This was going to get ugly now. Hinata was a skilled huntress and strong, but he had a hundred pounds of muscle on her in his animal form. That wasn't the case with Hiashi.

"Lord Hiashi, this isn't what it looks like. I swear that I had no intention of harming Hinata. I was only dealing with this trash." He grumbles as he glares hatefully at Itachi.

Hiashi raises an eyebrow. Perhaps that was true. Maybe Aoi was only targeting Itachi. That was better than him attacking Hinata, but still not something that he was going to tolerate.

He was the leader of the pride. His word was law. He wasn't going to allow his lions and lionesses to fight each other, especially not when they were facing threats from the big eyed humans.

"Perhaps you were attacking Itachi and Hinata stepped in. Either way, your behavior is unacceptable." Hiashi states simply.

"Hiashi, I only say this because I care about our pride. Can you not see that these lions and leopards are a threat to the safety of our family?!" Aoi demands.

"At the moment, the only threat that I see is you. You are the one who is going around and attacking pride mates. I accepted Sasuke and Itachi into this pride on a probationary basis. Both of them have more than proved their loyalty and worth since then. If you have an issue with them being part of this pride, you are questioning my judgment." The Hyuga Patriarch replies.

Aoi frowns. He knew that he was on thin ice. He had now entered dangerous territory. No matter what he said, Hiashi was never going to trust him in the same way that he had before. Damn it.

"I regret to say that in this matter, I am questioning your judgment. I do not know why you have this blind spot when it comes to them, but you do." He says.

"Are you challenging my right to lead this pride? If so, we can have our battle right now. If not, I suggest you hold your tongue." The older male says.

The rest of the pride was watching with wide eyes. This might not end well. Actually, there was a very good chance that this would end in disaster. No one had ever thought that someone would be crazy enough to challenge Hiashi, but it looked like Aoi might be.

"I have no wish to challenge you. I just wish that you would come to your senses. How can you not see the real danger that they pose to us?" The younger male asks.

"The big eyed humans are still out there. While that is the case, we can not afford to cast aside anyone. The humans might find you, if we were to exile you. Once the threat has passed though, you are no longer going to be a member of this pride. I will not tolerate disloyalty." Hiashi decrees.

Aoi openly gapes at Hiashi. He couldn't believe it! Hiashi was choosing the Uchiha Brothers and some fucking leopards over him! It was unbelievable.

He was overcome with rage and lunges at the pride leader. He just couldn't take it anymore. It was all too much.

"FATHER!" Hinata cries out in terror as Aoi sneak attacks Hiashi and tries to wrap his jaws around the older lion's throat.

Thankfully, he was having a hard time getting in a lethal bite because of Hiashi's thick mane. Hinata barrels towards Aoi and knocks him off of her sire. She wasn't going to let Aoi kill her father!

"Oh so you want to play princess? Let's see what you got!" Aoi roars at her.

The rest of the Hyuga Pride was watching with horror. If they intervened, there was a good chance that they might hurt Hinata accidentally. All of them were frozen with fear.

"I don't want to fight you, but I won't let you kill any of our pride members!" Hinata says.

"The feeling isn't mutual. Uchiha lover!" He growls as he lunges at Hinata and pins her to the ground.

The two lions grapple with each other. It was a blur of fur, fangs, and claws. They were moving around so quickly, that it was impossible to tell who was truly winning the fight.

"Big sister!" Hanabi calls out fearfully.

This couldn't be the end. Hinata wasn't going to die because Aoi was jealous of the Uchihas and worried about the leopards. No. This couldn't be happening!

"It's alright, Hanabi. I got this." Hinata replies.

Snarls and growls of pain can be heard throughout the cave, as the fur goes flying. Teeth and claws were clashing in a furious battle. Hinata was trying desperately to protect her neck from the other lion's massive jaws.

Finally, she manages to pin him. Aoi gets his teeth around her throat. Hinata didn't have any choice. She slashes at his eyes. Aoi snarls in pain and jumps off her, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Hinata growls when she gets up. The young lioness mistakenly though that the fight was over. It wasn't though.

"DIE TRAITOR!" He screams at Hinata as he makes one final attack.

As Aoi goes flying at her, Hinata ducks. He goes slamming into the cave wall. The force of impact crushed his skull. He was killed instantly.

His body slumps to the floor and everyone stares in horror. Aoi would never get up again. They all instinctively knew this.

"Oh God. What have I done?" Hinata whispers.

"It wasn't your fault, Hinata. You were just protecting your pride Mates. You have nothing to feel guilty over. Sadly, this might have been the kindest end to him. How badly is your throat injured?" Hiashi asks.

Hinata examines herself. She was bleeding, but not too badly. The cuts were mostly superficial at this point.

"I should probably see a healer, but I think I'll be alright." She whispers sadly and Hiashi fluffs her.

"You did the right thing. You defended our pride from a threat. You possibly saved a lot of lives by unintentionally ending his. Go and see the healer. Do not dwell on this unpleasantness." He murmurs soothingly.

"Yes, father." Hinata says as she heads off to see the healer.

She couldn't believe that she had killed someone. It had been self-defense. It wasn't as though she had planned on doing it, but she had killed someone.

She whimpers a few minutes later, when the healer tends to her injuries. It wasn't from pain, but guilt. The young lioness wanted nothing more to go and find Sasuke. She'd curl up next to her future Mate and try her best to forget what had just happened. Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do as soon as she was patched up.


	11. Chapter 11

The Huntress

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry, that I haven't updated this one in awhile. I was finishing up _**Our Son.**_ Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 11

A short while later, Hinata limps into the section of the cave that she now essentially shared with Sasuke. She smiles when she sees him. The other lion neko sees her and immediately tries to get up to go to her.

That didn't work out too well for him. He was still stunned from the fake fang. Hinata did appreciate that he was trying, but he was only going to hurt himself more.

"Sasuke! Stop! It's okay. I'll be okay. Just lay down and rest!" She pleads.

The black lion neko grumbles and shifts back to his animal form. He'd heal faster this way. Well at least that was his hope anyway.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help you." He whispers.

"It's not you fault. You don't always have to save me. I saved myself this time. That's all." Hinata assures him as she limps over to her future Mate and curls up against him.

Ah that was better. He was always so nice and warm. She also loved the feeling of his fur. It was so nice and silky.

"Still I should have done something. I really hate the big eyed humans. I can smell leopards nearby. Since when are leopards allowed here?" Sasuke asks as he begins attentively grooming her.

"Well I don't think father is happy about it, but Gaara is too easily recognizable. His siblings wanted to come with him and Mei did as well for some reason. I think she might like him." Hinata says as she sighs in contentment at the grooming and begins returning the gesture.

"Oh. I see. That makes sense. Yeah. Gaara's fur is pretty exotic. That's better. Just relax. It's a good thing that you killed that traitor. Otherwise, I would have made him suffer a lot more." Sasuke growls.

Hinata's tail swishes. She really did have such a protective Mate. Well almost Mate. Once they were sure that the big eyed humans weren't going to bother them anymore, she was sure that he'd protect their cubs viciously.

"I know you would have. It's alright though. It's over. I'm not proud that I killed him. I wish that it hadn't happened. It shouldn't have come to that." She whispers.

Sasuke sighs. He knew that Hinata likely felt guilty. In his mind, she had absolutely no reason to feel that way. She did though.

"If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. That or he would have killed Hiashi eventually. He was a coward. Aoki probably would have pulled something like that. You did the right thing. Don't lose any sleep over it." Sasuke tells her as he licks her cheek.

Hinata nods. She wasn't as convinced. She had killed another Pride member. That meant something. She might have done it in self-defense, but it still counted.

"Maybe." She mumbles as she licks Sasuke's fur coat clean.

"There's no maybe about it. You did the right thing. Sometimes you have to act. I know that you didn't want to do it, but it had to be done. My only regret is that I wasn't the one to do it. You're kind, Hinata. Sometimes people don't deserve your kindness." Sasuke says.

Hinata nods as she curls up closer to him. There was something really comforting about having a massive lion laying next to you. She shivers as she imagines how close they were going to be once they were better and she went into Heat.

"You cold?" He asks as he drapes the zebra blanket over her more.

"No. I'm not cold, but thank you." She tells him as she rubs noses with him.

That was the closest that lions nekos could come to kissing in their animal forms. Sasuke smiles and returns the nose rub. It was nice to see his tail swishing happily at the gesture.

"Oh. Good. I saw you shiver though." He says.

"It wasn't that kind of shiver." She admits.

"Ohhh. Good." Sasuke says smugly at that response.

Meanwhile Danzo was waiting for a response to the government. It was the strangest sensation. He was on the precipice of achieving all his dreams. The elderly man was so close and yet so far.

He was waiting for the call that would determine everything. Would his dreams go up in smoke or would they all come true? He honestly didn't know and that scared him.

"There is a chance that they might think it's a hoax." He mutters to himself.

Danzo just had to hope that wouldn't happen. He didn't know what he'd do, if that was the case. The scientist would have to do something crazy like capturing the leopard again.

"But the creatures have already proven that they will try to rescue him. Strange. It appears like they actually care for their own. They care about other creatures like them, even if they aren't the same type. Lions rescued a leopard." He muses.

That was certainly a touching sentiment. It was also a valuable scientific discovery. That wasn't just an instance of a herd banding together to intimidate a predator. Clearly, that rescue had been PLANNED.

That implied that these creatures had human intelligence or something very close to it. That explained why they had avoided detection for so long. The implications were fascinating.

"Danzo, someone wants to speak with you. I assume it's about our funding. It's a bigwig." Jirayia says as he walks over to his colleague and hands him the phone.

"Thank you, Jirayia." Danzo says as he takes the phone and heads back to his room to get some privacy.

The last thing that he needed was for his coworkers to realize what he was up to. No. He was not going to jinx this.

"Hello, Danzo. I am Hiruzen Sarutobi. We got your video. I must say that all of us are rather intrigued. I can't lie. There are concerns that this is an elaborate hoax. The fact that you have worked for decades in the field though, leads us to believe that you may have discovered something extraordinary." He begins.

Danzo's heart leapt with joy when he heard those words! Yes! It was really happening! They believed him! This was incredible news!

"Yes, it's real. I wouldn't risk my legacy over a hoax. I've been a scientist for my entire career. I live and breathe science." Danzo assures him.

"Yes, I imagined that was the case. It seems that we are in a bit of a dilemma though. Naturally, we would like to fly you out here to discuss it. On the other hand, you are the one that can most easily identify that leopard. It's a wild animal, it could die before you get back." Hiruzen replies.

Danzo frowns. That was an excellent point. Did he really trust someone else to correctly identify the leopard? No. He didn't.

"What are you suggesting?" He inquiries cautiously.

"We shall send a team out there to speak with you. If that video is accurate, these creatures have some sort of society. That can't have been a coincidence. There were too many different types of animals. Some of them are naturally each other's prey and predators. The odds of them all just happening to ambush you like that, are almost zero. Something strange is going on." The government official reasons.

"My thoughts, exactly." Danzo agrees.

He couldn't believe it! He had done it. Now all Danzo had to do was wait for the team to arrive and then they could track down that damn leopard.

"Very well. I shall send the team as I said. They'll be there within the week. It takes time to put together a quality team, even for something like this. Please do try to keep track of that leopard. I know that he escaped, but he can't have gone that far. Good day to you, Danzo." He says before hanging up.

"Oh I'll find him." Danzo says with a smirk.

One way or another, Danzo was going to find that leopard. There was no way that he was going to be denied his legacy because of one cat person!

Elsewhere Fugaku and Mikoto were back in Uchiha Territory. The two Mates were trying their best to explain the situation to their Pride mates. Needless to say, this was going to take awhile.

"It seems that a big eyed human captured a leopard neko. The leopard distracted the human while his siblings escaped. We had to mount a rescue mission. The mission was successful." The dark beauty assures their pride.

The other Uchihas looked a little less than convinced. None of them had ever doubted Mikoto's word before, but this was a stretch. They had saved a leopard from a big eyed human?

"And you think that is the end of the matter?" Another Uchiha asks.

"We aren't entirely certain. It would be a good idea for everyone to stay in their animal forms, until that can be confirmed. For now though, our mission was a success." Fugaku states.

Fugaku's word was law in that pride. Mikoto was like a beloved Queen. Fugaku was a very much respected (and even feared) King. No one was foolish enough to challenge him.

"Alright. We shall be sure to do that." The other Uchihas say as they retreat into their caves.

Mikoto sighs and fluffs her Mate. This was bad. She certainly didn't enjoy this cloud hanging over their head. No one really knew what was going to happen and that was frightening.

"It will be alright, my love." Fugaku assures her as he fluffs her back.

He hoped that he sounded more confident than he felt. In reality, he was far from certain. Fugaku didn't want to alarm the mother of his cubs though.

"Do you really believe that?" She whispers.

"Honestly, I don't know. Fretting about the matter won't help though." The proud lion neko replies.

Mikoto nods in agreement as she follows Fugaku inside the cave. She supposed that all they could do was wait and see. It had been good to see their cubs again though. So it wasn't all bad.

"Come. I think that we still have some giraffe left." She tells him.

"Oh good. I do love giraffe." Fugaku replies as they walk side by side further into their cave.

Maybe things would work out somehow. They had saved Gaara. Sasuke and Itachi were now part of a large pride and it looked like they had even found their Mates. Those were all good signs.

Back in the Hyuga Pride Lands, Itachi smiles as he watches Izumi cook. She was rather skilled at it. Mostly though, he just admired the view.

She was in her human form. That meant that he got to see her lovely backside as she scurried about. It was rather easy to forget your troubles when you were being distracted in such a wonderfully wicked way.

"Itachi, can you hand me that bowl, instead of standing around and looking pretty?" She asks.

"Of course, I can. Oh and I'm not the one standing around and looking pretty. That would be your job, not mine." He says with a smirk as he hands her the bowl.

"You're impossible." She says as she takes the bowl and then swats him.

Itachi just chuckles. He didn't the swat. He found it rather cute actually. It wasn't as if Izumi was a real threat to him.

"Only for you. Only for you." He assures her as he kisses the lioness neko's forehead.

"Good. It had better stay that way or else you are going to become quite a handsome throw rug." She warns him.

"Well I suppose when you put it that way, I had best stay on my best behavior." He muses.

A week later, Sasuke was feeling better and so was Hinata. He smiles as they slink off together to go hunting. Her Heat should be approaching soon and he wanted to have some food nearby. That way they wouldn't have any distractions.

"What shall we hunt today?" Hinata asks as she stretches and heads off with him.

"I'm not picky. Whatever you like is fine with me." Sasuke informs her.

"I think I saw some wildebeests by the watering hole." She says.

Sasuke nods in agreement and heads off with his lioness. Wildebeest sounded fine to him. It would be good to stretch his paws, after being cooped up for a week. Hunting would be a wonderfully productive way to do that.

"Do you want to be the pouncer or ambusher?" Hinata whispers as they get closer.

The two lions were now crouching low in the ground and moving very slowly. So far, so good. The beasts hadn't seen them yet.

"You're faster than I am. You can pounce. I'll ambush and snap its neck." Sasuke tells her as he gets into position.

Hinata nods. The lioness chases the wildebeest. The beast tries to escape and ends up running straight into Sasuke. Hinata jumped on the creatures back and tries to force him to the ground.

That was all the opening that Sasuke needed. He immediately clamps his mighty jaws around its neck. It didn't take long for the for their prey to stop struggling and to go lifeless.

"That's my huntress." Sasuke says proudly, after releasing their kill from his mouth.

"Always." Hinata says as her tail swishes happily.

"Mmm let's get this back to the cave and try to find some more." Sasuke tells her and Hinata nods in agreement.

The two lion nekos quickly drag the kill back to the cave. Sasuke places it in the corner and the two of them get some water, before heading out again. It'd probably be better to get more food before her Heat hit. One kill might be enough to get them though, but obviously more would be better.

Meanwhile the team sent by the government, arrives in Africa. All of them were curious about Danzo's discovery. Half of them thought it was a clever hoax and half of them thought Danzo had made an amazing discovery.

"Either way, I'm certain that this will be most entertaining." Tobirama says.

"That's right, brother. This could be the discovery of a lifetime. I hope that it's true. Can you imagine what this will mean for science and humanity at large?" Hashirama asks.

"I can scarcely imagine and I have a pretty good imagination." His brother replies.

Tobirama was aware of Danzo's reputation in the scientific community. It would have been harder to find a more credible person to make such a fantastical claim. That made him have some hope that this wouldn't be a hoax.

He didn't want to get his hopes up too much though. The odds of there actually being a race of cat people with human or near human intelligence seemed rather slim.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Hashirama says and there was a chorus of agreements.

He chuckles. Hashirama certainly had a way of inspiring people. Not that their team needed much encouragement on this one. Whether they thought this would end in an amazing discovery or comedy, everyone was eager to see what would happen.

A short while later, they arrived at the hotel. Hashirama quickly makes his way to the room that Danzo was said to be staying in and knocks on his door. That was hardly surprising. His brother had always been easily excitable and now he had ad damn good reason to be excited.

"Oh! You must be from the government." Danzo says, after opening the door.

"That's right. I'm Hashirama. That's my brother, Tobirama. We have an entire team of people that is eager to meet with you. Let's go find our cat." He tells him.

Danzo smirks. This was going to be perfect. Now he had a real team working for him. There was no way that he could fail.

"Excellent. We should leave as soon as possible." He replies.

"Shouldn't we inform the rest of your team that we are going after the cat?" Tobirama asks as he raises an eyebrow.

"That won't be necessary. They are already out in the field looking for the leopard." Danzo lies easily.

The brothers seem to take his word at face value. Why wouldn't they? He was a respected scientist, after all.

"Alright. Then I expect that you should get ready and we'll wait for you outside. Our team is quite excited to begin on this project." Tobirama explains.

"Of course. I'll be out in just a few moments. I can't tell you what this means to me. I greatly appreciate your help. I really think that we are on the verge of changing the world!" Danzo says as he closes his door and presumably begins to change into his field clothes.

The two brothers nod and head out of the hotel. They had to brief their team. It was exciting. They were about to potentially discover a new species! Incredible!

Elsewhere Sasuke and Hinata had had a rather productive hunting session. They now had the wildebeest, a zebra, and an antelope to tide them over.

"Do you want some help, skinning them?" Sasuke asks as he watches his soon to be Mate begin doing so.

"That'd be nice." Hinata says with a smile.

Saske nods and he shifts to his human form. He swiftly begins the process of skinning their kills and salting the meat. That would preserve it longer.

"The first time that I saw you, I knew that you were a skilled huntress and you had such beautiful eyes. I think that I knew from that moment that you were the lioness that I wanted." Sasuke tells her as he kisses her shoulder.

"That's so sweet. I love you too." Hinata says with a smile as she leans back into the affectionate gesture.

If Sasuke had been in his lion form, he was sure that his tail would have been wagging. She had said it. Hinata loved him. He smiles and nuzzles her. His huntress loved him.

"Do you think that Izumi and Itachi are going to Mate as well?" She asks curiously as she turns around and snuggles into his arms.

"I think so. I'm sure that we'll have cubs before them though." Sasuke says with a smirk.

"Mmm. It's not a competition, Sasuke." She tells him with a giggle.

Sasuke tries his best to look innocent. He knew that. Mostly. He couldn't lie though. He was never going to let Itachi live it down, if they had cubs before Itachi and Izumi did.

His brother could be rather smug sometimes. Sasuke pawned it off to the fact that he was the elder brother. He was supposed to be that way. So it would be really nice to get one over on him.

"Oh I know that. I'm just saying that it would be nice, if we did." Sasuke says slyly.

"You can be so silly sometimes. The cubs will have lots of fun playing with you." Hinata muses.

"Good because I KNOW that I'll have lots of fun playing with you while we sire them." The lion neko whispers seductively into her ear as he traces his hand over the curve of her hip, suggestively.

Hinata laughs and leans into him. He could be such a silly AND naughty lion at times. She doubted that it would take them very many tries before she was pregnant with their first litter.

"That's good to know." She whispers as she kisses him.

Sasuke smiles and kisses back. For the moment, he had completely forgotten about everything else. He wasn't thinking about the leopards, his birth pride, or the big eyed humans. The only thing that he could think about was the beautiful lioness in his arms.

"I thought so. How big of a litter were you hoping for?" Sasuke asks as he kisses her neck.

"I h-adn't really thought about it. You don't get to pick your litter size." She sighs softly in pleasure.

"I know that. Most people have a preference though." Sasuke says as he playfully nips at her neck.

Hinata felt herself shiver. Sasuke was a natural seducer it seemed. It was nice to know that she had a good Mate lined up for her seasons. A very, very affectionate one at that.

"Mmm maybe two or three. A small litter is usually best for the first time." She reasons.

"I guess that's a good point." Sasuke admits.

Sasuke idly wonders if the cubs would look more like him or her. Would they have her beautiful lavender eyes or his ruby red ones? Light fur like their mother or dark like his? Maybe they would be a mix.

Elsewhere in the Hyuga Caves, Gaara was also feeling better. The red head wasn't sure that he felt entirely safe in the lion's den. Sometimes though, it didn't bother him too much.

Mei could be very distracting. He had no idea how to respond to her. The older leopard was very affectionate towards him. He might be young, but he wasn't completely naïve. It seemed like she wanted to be his Mate.

"Gaara, are you hungry?" Temari asks as she trots in carrying an impala in her jaws.

"Yes, a little bit. Thank you, sister." Gaara replies.

Thankfully, his siblings were there as well. They usually showed up before things got too awkward. He was worried that he'd end up making a fool out of himself.

"Impala, my favorite. I'll prepare it." Mei tells Temari.

"Oh thank you. That's very kind." The feisty blonde informs her, while still in her leopard form.

Kankuro snickers at Mei's offer. Gaara rolls his eyes. Sometimes, his brother really did ask to be beaten up.

"What are you laughing at?!" The female Sabaku Sibling demands.

"It's a good thing that she's offering to cook. Otherwise, we'd just have to eat it raw. Safer to eat it raw than to eat anything you make." The male leopard replies.

SMACK! Temari swats Kankuro with her mighty paw. Soon enough the brother and sister were locked in an epic "play fight."

Gaara wisely takes a few steps back. He didn't want to get pulled into the middle of that. Apparently, neither did Mei. She was now standing right beside him in her human form.

"Are they always like this?" She whispers.

"Always. Kankuro can't resist trying to get underneath her fur." Gaara admits.

"Well I suppose one thing is for sure. I'm not going to be bored again, anytime soon. Not with the three of you here." She says with a smile.


	12. Chapter 12

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 12

Sasuke knew the exact moment when Hinata's Heat hit. He had gone out to fill their gourds with water and when he came back, she pounced. She really pounced!

Sasuke topples over and it was a damn miracle that the water didn't spill. Though the beautiful sight of a naked pouncing Hinata on top of him would have been more than work it. At the moment, he was pretty sure that he was the luckiest lion neko on the planet.

"I take I that you really missed me while I was getting the water." He says slyly as he smiles and pets her ears affectionately.

"Mhm." Hinata says as she nuzzles him.

Logically, she knew that he hadn't been gone long. It felt like forever. She had been fine when he left, but by the time that Sasuke returned, Hinata felt like her body was on fire.

Sasuke smiles and nuzzles her back. There was no question that her Heat had hit. Since she had already chosen him, he didn't see a reason to waste time. So he quickly nudged her off of him and sat down, before pulling her into his lap.

"Sasuke?" She asks in confusion.

"Relax. Let me help you feel better." Sasuke whispers as he kisses her.

 **Warning Lemon**

Hinata smiles and returns the kiss. That was better. Her Mate would take care of her. She had chosen well.

Sasuke deepens the kiss and caresses her breasts. Honestly, she should really just walk around naked in her human form whenever they were alone. She was beautiful everywhere, but he was particularly fond of her breasts.

"That feels good." She whispers after breaking the kiss.

"It's supposed to. Tell me what you like and what you don't." The raven haired neko told her as he leaves a trail of kisses along her neck and shoulder.

"I like that too." Hinata sighs softly in contentment and tilts her head to the side, exposing more of her neck to him.

This felt better. There was still a maddening pressure between her legs. She recognized arousal, but it had never been this overwhelming before. She felt like she was the savannah and the monsoon was about to hit.

"Good." Sasuke says with a smirk as he bites down lightly.

Hinata moans. His teeth didn't pierce the skin, but she could still feel him. The small display of possessiveness felt so good.

"R-eally like that." She murmurs.

The Uchiha was feeling quite pleased with himself when he hears that moan. He made her moan like that. No one else.

"Very good." He says as he licks where he bit her and massages her breasts more.

Hinata leans back against him and mews in pleasure. She liked this. In a way, she felt better because she was being touched and in a way she felt worse. The monsoon was coming closer.

"I want to touch you too." She whispers.

"You can touch as much as you want." Sasuke assures her as he continues exploring his beautiful Mate.

He lightly tugs on her nipples and slides one hand over her toned stomach. Her skin was just so wonderfully soft and warm. Everywhere he touched felt that way.

"Alright." She says with a smile as she shyly slides her hands over his muscular chest.

Hinata revels in the powerful muscles she felt beneath her fingertips. Her Mate was really strong. He could be gentle though, like right now. She could feel his caresses everywhere. That only made her more eager to continue her explorations.

"Good." He growls in pleasure at her touch.

Sasuke smirks and rubs the curve of her shapely backside and pets her tail. She had such a nice firm rump and a silky tail. He quite liked it.

The bluenette smiles at the praise and lavishes his chest with kisses as her hand slowly drifts south. Eventually, she grasps his arousal in her hand.

"Very good." He groans and thrusts into her hand.

Hinata blushes. She had seen him without clothes before. It was always an impressive sight, but she had never actually played with his tail before.

She might have been a novice when it came to sex, but even Hinata could tell that he was more than ready to pounce. The lavender eyed beauty was both aroused by his obvious desire for her and a little skittish. How was that supposed to fit?

"Mine." Sasuke says simply as he kisses the back of her shoulder and his hand slinks down between her thighs.

Hinata gasps when she felt his hand there. Her desire heightened into almost a frenzy. So close. He was so close.

Wanting to encourage him, the lioness neko strokes his arousal. She smiles when she felt Sasuke thrust into her hand and groan in pleasure. Hinata must be doing something right.

"Yes." She whispers and Sasuke kisses her.

She was such a good lioness and all his. As he deepens the kiss, he rubs her womanhood. Hinata was soaked with desire. He knew that was largely because of her Heat, but he also wanted to believe that she would have wanted him either way.

After all, Hinata had agreed to be Mates before she went into Heat. She wanted him and not just because of the season. With that thought in mind, he rubs her faster and brushes his thumb against her clit.

"Nhh! Really, really good. R-ight there." She moans.

Ah ha! So that was where she liked to be touched, Sasuke thinks to himself. He brushes against that spot again and cups her sex more. He was rather gratified when he hears her moan in response.

Hinata moans and strokes him faster. Judging by the way he thrusted into her touch more, Sasuke seemed to prefer that pace. She didn't have much time to ponder that observation though because Sasuke slides a single finger inside her experimentally.

"Relax. I'm just getting you used to being taken." Sasuke assures her as he nips at her nipple playfully and sucks on the rosebud while pumping the digit inside her.

Hinata squirms and sighs in pleasure. That felt so good. His wonderfully hot mouth was wrapped around her breast and sucking. It sent a jolt of desire straight to her core. Her core that Sasuke was currently teasing with his wickedly talented paws.

"So good." She purrs in approval.

"I want you to cum for me. I want to make you feel good." Sasuke growls at her lustfully as he rubs her clit more and adds a second finger inside her.

It didn't take long for Hinata to moan. Sasuke smirks as he watches her attempt to ride his fingers. She was such a beautiful, needy lioness. He could feel her desire completely coating his fingers. Hinata had to be close to her first orgasm.

She moans and bites her lower lip when he brushes up against something inside her that made her see stars. It felt incredibly good. The lioness roars in pleasure as she came hard.

"That's better. Get on your hands and knees, my love." Sasuke instructs her softly.

Normally, Hinata would have been far too embarrassed to do such a thing. She was still too pleasantly enthralled in the afterglow of her pleasure to worry about modesty though. She swiftly does as her Mate requested.

"Beautiful." Sasuke says approvingly as he gets behind her and kisses the back of her neck while gliding his hands along her the contours of her back suggestively.

He couldn't help but take a moment or two to admire the view. He particularly liked her tail was swishing with anticipation and how her adorable ears were on high alert.

The quivering of her thighs told him that she definitely needed him though. He smiles and hovers over her. His body was larger than hers, he completely dwarfed her. Hinata didn't seem to mind this as she arches back against him though.

"Want you now." She growls at him.

"This might hurt at first. Just relax. It'll feel better soon. I promise." Sasuke whispers into his Mate's ears as he slowly sheathes himself inside her.

Hot, tight, and wet. Sasuke didn't know that his body was capable of feeling so good! It took every ounce of self-control that he had, not to slam into her and claim her thoroughly.

His Mate was an innocent though. Sasuke knew that he couldn't do that. Not without risking hurting her.

"Nhh!" She cries out in surprise as she squirms against him.

Hinata had never felt so full before. Apparently, he did fit. He fit really, really well. She wiggles around trying to get used to this new sensation.

"It's alright, Hinata. Just tell me when it's safe to move." Sasuke murmurs as he kisses her back and caresses her breasts.

She looked absolutely stunning on her hands and knees. The sight of her slender back, lovely backside, beautiful tail, and breasts dangling was a glorious one. Sasuke now knew why this was the traditional position of their kind. Who could possibly resist that view?

"You can move now." She whispers.

Sasuke smiles and begins moving inside his lover. Fuck! It felt even better when he could move. He tries to angle his thrusts to hit that spot that had driven her wild, only a few moments before.

Hinata arches back against him and tries to match his pace. The lioness neko rolls her hips encouragingly. She could feel the warmth of his skin against her back and him deep inside her. It felt so good. She couldn't help but moan and roar in pleasure.

"You feel so good." Sasuke growls lustfully as he slams into his lover.

"Nhhh! Yes!" Hinata cries out in pleasure and that only spurred Sasuke on.

The two began to move as one. Their coupling was far from gentle. It was pure, raw primal need after that, but they reveled in it.

Sasuke snarls in pleasure as he felt her soft warm skin against his. He couldn't help but admire the way her beautiful blue hair cascaded around her like a waterfall as he claimed her over and over again. Her adorable tail was swishing wildly and she felt so good wrapped around his cock. He knew that it wouldn't be long before he spilled his seed inside her.

"More! Don't stop!" Hinata growls at him.

It felt so good. The ache between her legs was now gone and replaced by something else. She could feel her desire bubbling up again. The monsoon was about to strike once more. The lioness neko was almost delirious with pleasure.

Stop? Sasuke was most certainly not planning on stopping. He smirks and bites down on her shoulder, just enough to Mark her. No one else was going to touch his lioness like this. Just him.

"I'm not to going to." He promises and he groans when Hinata somehow manages to reach for his furry black tail and stroke him.

His tail had always been sensitive. Sasuke supposed that was true for most lion nekos. This felt incredible though.

He could feel her desire for him. Hinata was as soaked with arousal as he was hard with it. They fit together so perfectly. At the moment, he wasn't sure that he would ever be able to stop. Each thrust brought euphoria.

"Good." Hinata moans and writhes underneath him, lost in a sea of passion.

Sasuke's thrusts now became rather frenzied. Everything felt too right to resist. It was almost like she was made just for him.

It didn't take them long to both moan. The lioness and her lion neko both achieved bliss together. Hinata squirms at the new sensation of being filled with the evidence of their lovemaking.

Deciding that she liked it, she roars at him encouragingly and slides away from him. Sasuke looks at her in a rather confused fashion. His confusion didn't last long though because Hinata as pounces.

"I'm certain not going to argue with the view." Sasuke smirks as he leans up and kisses her while thrusting up into his new lover.

Hinata smiles and kisses back. She moans into the kiss when she felt him slam into her spot again and again. The bluenette arches her back in pleasure and begins to ride him.

She shivers at Sasuke's heated gaze. Her Mate really did seem to enjoy looking at her. It didn't take long for him to grip her by the hips and help guide her in their lovemaking efforts.

"So good." She sighs in pleasure as she slowly rides him and Sasuke growls in agreement.

It didn't take long for the lovers to achieve their second bliss together. Nor the third or the fourth. The two of them spent the rest of the season together. Each of them had completely forgotten the rest of the world. There was only them.

Eventually, Hinata's Heat recedes and Sasuke slides out of his new Mate. He smiles and then wraps his arms around Hinata and holds her tightly. Everything was as it should be in his mind.

 **End Lemon**

"That was incredible." Hinata murmurs with a blush as she buries her face in his shoulder and tries to will her heart to stop pounding.

"Yes, you were." Sasuke tells her as he kisses the top of her head and continues holding her.

Hinata smiles at the praise and cuddles closer to her Mate. She had definitely chosen well. She could only hope that things were going as well for Izumi and Itachi.

Meanwhile Itachi was curled up next to Izumi and was the picture of contentment. Thank goodness for the Mating Season, he thinks to himself with a smirk. He was almost positive that he had sired some cubs with his lover.

"Mmm you look rather pleased with yourself." Izumi notes in amusement.

"Of course, I am. I have the most beautiful lioness in the world for my Mate and just finished a fantastic season. That and I'm sure we'll have our first litter of cubs soon." Itachi replies smugly.

Izumi giggles and shakes her head. Well she was glad that her Mate was so happy with their union. That was a good sign. She was certainly very pleased with his _performance._

"Me too. I love you." She whispers.

"I love you too. Oh and it sounds like the leopards were having a rather productive season as well. I don't believe those were lion roars that I heard a few minutes ago." He observes with a chuckle.

"Mmm well good for them. I feel bad for the red furred one." She admits as she snuggles into her Mate.

Itachi could only nod in agreement. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like. Getting captured by a big eyed human was every hybrid's worse nightmare.

"Yes, that's true. Well I assume it was Gaara and Mei. The other three leopards are too closely related. It could be Kankuro and Mei, but I think she was more enamored with Gaara." He observes.

Izumi nods. That sounded about right to her. Well she was happy for the leopards, but she was even more happy for them.

"Mmm let's get some sleep, my love." She whispers.

"Of course. My apologies for wearing you out." Itachi says smugly and Izumi lightly bats him on the nose for that comment.

"You are impossible." She mutters.

Elsewhere Gaara was snuggled up into Mei. This was nice. He quite liked cuddling. It wasn't as good as actually Mating, but he didn't think anything could compare to that!

"Mmm I knew you were exceptional for more than just your beautiful fur." She sighs in contentment and Gaara's tail swishes proudly.

He hadn't expected to find a Mate so early. Well honestly, he hadn't expected to find one ever. More accurately, it looked like Mei found him instead.

There could be some benefits to having an older Mate, he decides. She certainly had some rather useful experience in all manner of areas. That and she likely would be better able to protect their cubs. She'd know the best places to hunt and avoid. Experience could be a valuable tool.

"Thank you. You were amazing." He says simply as he licks her cheek affectionately.

"Mmm. Of course, I was." Mei says smugly.

"And you're modesty is most becoming." Gaara notes in amusement.

Unbeknownst to them, the big eyed humans were now firmly on the loose. They were searching far and wide. All of them were hoping to find that red leopard or something to prove Danzo's theory right.

"He's got to be crazy. It's a hoax. I'm convinced of it now. We've been searching for a long time. I haven't seen any red leopard." Hashirama says to his brother.

"Leopards are elusive cats. The leopard is probably out there. We just have to find him. Don't give up just yet. Besides, where is that boundless optimism of yours that you have used to drive me insane since childhood?" The white haired man inquires slyly.

"It went out the window after being in over a hundred degree heat for days!" His brother wines and Tobirama just chuckles.

Hashirama was certainly quite the character. That much was for damn sure. One thing was for certain. No one was ever bored about that man.

Danzo sighs as they continue looking and he overhears the brothers' conversation. That wasn't a good sign. His team was getting restless. They had to find that cat and soon.

He needed to find the leopard. It was his best chance of securing his legacy. Danzo was so close to achieving all his dreams and yet so far. It wasn't fair.

"Damn it. Not again." Suigetsu mutters when he sees the humans.

He directs his fellow baboons to attack. Maybe they could chase them out. They had to try.

"Oh dear God, there's a bunch of baboons heading straight towards us!" One of the government workers cries out in shock.

Danzo blinks. You had to be kidding him. Honestly, it was almost as bad as when the animals attacked him that one night to rescue the leopard.

"We're getting close! I know we have to be getting close! They wouldn't attack us, if we weren't!" He says triumphantly.

"That or maybe they don't like the fact that we have invaded their territory." Hashirama says.

"We can debate this matter later! Right now everyone move out!" Tobirama says as they all guide their jeeps off.

No one was eager to get attacked by a group of baboons. Who knew what those critters were capable of? Were they strong enough to break through glass windows? Maybe.

Well they weren't entirely sure about that last part. Still they were in no hurry to figure out if that was indeed the case. Really, it was in their best interest to get out of there quickly.

"Ah ha! We chased off the big eyed humans." Suigetsu says proudly as he does a victory dance with his family and friends.

The violet eyed baboon was feeling rather pleased with himself at the moment. Why wouldn't he? They had chased off the humans! This was a glorious day!

"We should call a meeting immediately. The others are going to be so happy when they hear the news." He says and the baboons nod in agreement.

They all quickly amble off to call the meeting. Soon enough, all the hybrids in the area arrive. Suigetsu beams. They were all going to be so excited!

"We have good news. We were able to chase the humans off." He states proudly.

Hiashi frowns. He hoped that the white haired hybrid was correct. The last thing that any of them needed was to run into more big eyed humans. Unfortunately, he doubted anything was ever truly that easy.

"Are you sure that you chased them off for good or did they all just make a tactical retreat?" The proud lion asks.

That's when the violet eyed hybrid's face falls. He had been in such a good mood that they left, that he hadn't considered that possibility. The lion might be onto something.

"Well I guess there's no way to know for sure." He says with a sigh.

"It's a start though. At least now we know they can be scared off. That's something." Gaara offers as he proudly stands next to his new Mate.

Suigetsu nods. Yeah! That was right! It was a start and a damn good one. Now they knew that the big eyed humans were really overgrown scaredy cats! They didn't know how to handle it, when the hybrids fought back!

Hinata sighs as she nuzzles Sasuke. She didn't like it. The big eyed humans were still lurking about and there was a good chance that she was pregnant. Hinata also knew that she was likely far from the only female who might be expecting.

"It'll be alright, my love. Don't worry. We'll figure this out." Sasuke whispers to her.

"My love?! Whoa! Bastard, did you actually find a Mate?!" Naruto exclaims as he darts over to his friend excitedly.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. Honestly, Naruto had no tact whatsoever. Would it really kill the African Wild Dog Hybrid to be a little more subtle? Apparently, it would.

"Yes, Naruto. This is my Mate. Hinata, this is Naruto. He's a loser, but he has a good heart." Sasuke explains.

"Oh well it's very nice to meet you." Hinata says sweetly and Naruto grumbles at being called a loser.

"It's nice to meet you too. You must have the patience of a saint to put up with this bastard. So are there are going to be bunch of mini bastards running around the Savannah soon?" The blonde African Wild Dog asks brightly.

Sasuke rolls his eyes and gives Naruto the swat that the idiot was so clearly asking , who said things like that? He really did need to learn to think before he let his tongue wag faster than his tail.

"You're such a loser." He mutters.

"Well we just got done with our Mating Season. I'm hopeful that we'll have some cubs. If you call our cubs that again though, I might lose my temper and turn you into my scratching post. I know you are just playing, so I'm just going to let you off with a warning this time." Hinata informs him and Naruto gulps.

"Um good job. Sasuke. Got yourself a real lioness there." Naruto says nervously and Sasuke nods in agreement.

His beautiful huntress really was a real lioness. Not only was she beautiful and strong, she'd make a fantastic mother. Sasuke knew that she would defend their cubs viciously. That and she was a fantastic lover. He was a very lucky lion.


	13. Chapter 13

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

 **Chapter Notation:** Lions generally are pregnant for 105-115 days, with 110 being considered the average.

Chapter 13

Three months and some very pregnant nekos later, Sasuke was currently rubbing Hinata's now very round belly with his paws. His Mate seemed to enjoy her belly rubs, now that she was pregnant.

"How's that feel?" He asks.

"Much better." Hinata sighs with contentment as she enjoys the attention and the relief that the massage provided.

Itachi wasn't having as tranquil of a time. Izumi was less than pleased when he commented on her strange food cravings. He dodges as she mock charges at him.

It wasn't as though he could charge back. His lover was pregnant. He knew that it was just hormones, but that didn't mean he wanted to get anywhere near her claws when she was like this.

"Hmpf! It's a perfectly normal to have cravings when you are pregnant!" She grumbles at him.

"I'm aware of that. I'm just saying that flamingo is an unusual choice. What's the point? There's barely any meat on them." Itachi defends himself and Hiashi shakes his head in amusement.

It was always amusing to watch lions who were about to sire their first litter. Pregnant lionesses really should come with some sort of instruction manual. Really, it was something of a miracle that more lions weren't killed by their lionesses during their pregnancy.

"Just humor her. That's the best way to get through her pregnancy in one piece." Hiashi advises.

"I was only teasing her. I don't see why she got that upset. I'll go get her some flamingoes though." He says as prowls off in his lion form.

Izumi shakes her head. She loved Itachi. She really did. It was just sometimes her Mate was really asking for it. Honestly, he should have just got her the flamingoes without making any stupid comments!

"You're lucky that Sasuke knows better." Izumi mutters.

"Well Hinata does have strange cravings too. She did nip my ear pretty good a couple times for commenting on them though." Sasuke admits as he continues pawing at his Mate's stomach.

"You deserved those times." Hinata mumbles in embarrassment as she stretches out and relaxes.

Izumi rolls her eyes playfully. It seemed that males just had a death wish. It didn't matter how old they were. None of them had any clue how to handle someone's pregnancy, except Hiashi and that was likely only because he was more experienced.

"Do you think that the humans are gone?" Kankuro asks as he peeks his head out of one of the leopard sections.

"It has been at least two moon cycles since we saw them." Hiashi reasons thoughtfully.

"Humans can be very sneaky, especially big eyed humans." Hanabi says knowledgably and Neji nods in agreement at his cousin's assessment.

Neji knew fully well that humans tended to appear for awhile and disappear for many lunar cycles. It wasn't unlikely that they would appear again. They couldn't let their guard down.

"I'm inclined to agree. You know what the big eyed humans are like. Many of them come and go. You never really know when they'll come back, but they almost always do." He says with a sigh.

Sasuke's blood ran cold at that observation. The last thing he wanted was for big eyed humans to come back when his Mate was heavily pregnant or they had small cubs. That would be a disaster.

Hinata whimpers and snuggles closely into Sasuke upon hearing that. It was clear that her thoughts had also taken a much darker turn. The Uchiha couldn't blame his Mate for them doing so either.

"It will be alright. I wouldn't let anything happen to you or our cubs." He says as he rubs noses with her.

Hinata was in her animal form. When a hybrid became pregnant, they had to choose which form they were going to carry their cubs in. The first month or so they could change back and forth, but after that they had to choose.

It could end in disaster, if you shifted from your humanoid to your lioness form while pregnant. Sometimes the baby didn't shift with you or they only shifted partially. It was courting death to shift between forms while you were heavily pregnant. Both for you and your cubs.

"I know." Hinata says with a smile as she rubs noses with Sasuke.

She was being ridiculous. They were perfectly safe inside the caves. Hopefully, the big eyed humans wouldn't come back though. She really didn't like them.

Meanwhile Tsunade, Jirayia, and Kakashi were glaring at Danzo. They were about to make their second journey back to Africa again. This time, they had the government with them.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us the truth!" Tsunade snaps at him.

"You didn't need to know the truth. We failed to find that leopard anyway. I would have told you, if we had found him." Danzo scowls at her.

This was what he was afraid of. Now his team knew. Unfortunately, the government wanted the other three on his team. They were all considered experts in their fields, after all.

The last trip had been unsuccessful. It had taken months of pleading for Danzo to convince the government to fund another project. He knew that this was his last shot and that terrified him.

"We're your colleagues! You should have told us what was going on. You also knew that Jirayia believed in the nekos and yet, you said nothing!" Kakashi thunders at him.

Danzo rolls his eyes. In his mind, he owed them nothing. They all really needed to shut up. He had paid his dues. He didn't need to share credit with these three brain dead people!

"I knew that Jirayia believed in nekos, yes. That's precisely why I didn't tell him. I didn't want him to get too excited. He would have ruined the mission, unintentionally. I do deeply regret hurting any of your feelings though. It simply had to be done. There was no other choice." He lies with ease.

Danzo had become a skilled liar over the years. If there was one thing that he was good at, it was lying with a straight face. He could only hope that they believed him.

"I highly doubt you regret hurting our feelings. This was about you claiming all the credit for the discovery. You disgust me, Danzo. Assuming we find the nekos, we are going to the press. This will destroy you." Jirayia informs him.

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME?!" The other elderly man snaps at him.

Jirayia shakes his head. Danzo was clearly going half mad. He was a liability. He shouldn't be on this mission. It really was that simple.

"I shall speak with the government about taking you off this assignment. You should be somewhere, getting the proper care that you need." He says.

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME SENILE?!" Danzo thunders at the white haired man in outrage.

Tsunade sighs and gets between the two warring men. This could get ugly and fast. Sadly, it looked like she was going to have to get in the middle of their quarrel. Neither of them would actually hit a woman.

For all his faults, she knew that was the one thing that Danzo wouldn't do. She knew enough about his childhood to realize that much. His father had been a rather cruel man to put it mildly.

"Enough! We have a job to do. Let's focus on that!" She snaps at them.

"Tsunade is right. We need to work together and find these nekos. This could be the greatest discovery of the century. Imagine what will happen, if it's discovered they have human or near human intelligence!" The silver haired man says cheerfully.

Danzo growls. Oh he had imagined what would happen. He had imagined it more times than he could count. The possibilities were endless. Tragically, his teammates had found out the truth. That made things more complicated.

"You're right, Tsunade. We do have more important things to focus on than our bickering." He says with a sigh.

In reality, he knew that things were going to get out of hand and quickly. He couldn't have them tarnish his image in the press. No, he needed to act and swiftly.

Drastic actions would be necessary. Unknowingly, his colleagues had just sealed their fate. He was going to have to find a way to get rid of them and quickly.

"Well if the four of you are done bickering, we should get moving." Tobirama says as he walks into the room with Hashirama at his side.

Danzo really didn't understand the two brothers. How could anyone put up with being by their brother that long and constantly. It was almost like they were attached at the hip or something. Honestly, it was more than a little creepy.

"Oh their never done arguing. It seems that Danzo is quite the schemer, but we can deal with that later. Shall we be off?" Kakashi asks with forced cheerfulness.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Hashirama says as the team leaves the hotel building and heads off to meet with the others.

It took several days for Danzo to find a cave. Clearly, lions were using it. He smirks as he gets an idea. He would make sure that a tragic accident happened.

His teammates could perish. That way he would be able to claim full credit and they would never get the chance to damage his reputation. It was the perfect plan.

"Everyone make sure that you have your tranquilizers and regular guns ready. This is very dangerous." Tobirama warns them and the others nod as they cautiously head into the cave.

That's when they walked inside and their eyes widen. There were at least a dozen lions around about half a dozen people with feline traits. Lion ears and tails.

"BIG EYED HUMANS!" Hiashi roars in terror.

The humans couldn't speak the lion's language, but it was apparently a language. The other lions reared into actions and shifted immediately. Suddenly a dozen or more very big and angry cats were lunging at them.

Danzo aims his stun gun at a rather large black furred one. Shockingly, a lavender eyed one jumps in front of him. It was as though she was trying to save him.

"HINATA!" Sasuke cries out in horror as he snarls and lunges at Danzo.

He was going to pay! How dare he attack his pregnant Mate?! Sasuke was going to rip his throat out!

"You idiot! You are going to get us all killed!" Jirayia snaps at him.

Danzo knew one thing. He wasn't going to die and he hated Jirayia. He smirks as he tosses the white haired one in front of the enraged lion. Surely, he'd be shredded.

Sasuke knocks Jiryaia over. He didn't care about the white haired one. It was the other elder that was his concern. He was going to tear him limb from limb!

Tobirama's eyes widen in realization. This wasn't an animal. Well at least not entirely. A regular lion would have just shredded Jirayia. This lion was clearly going after Danzo though. He was focused in his rage.

"I think the lioness is pregnant." Hashirama whispers.

"I think that Danzo is a dead man." Tobirama whispers.

"I think that we should get out of here!" Kakashi yells as he tries to fire off several tranquilizers.

He really didn't want to have to kill any of them, but Kakashi didn't want to die either. They had to get out of there. This was going to turn into a bloodbath soon.

The lions were less than pleased about the tranquilizers and the big eyed humans in their den. The big cats were now lunging.

Danzo quickly tries to use other human shields. He hurls Tsunade out in front of him as he tries to run off.

"Don't worry, brother! I will ensure that you can punish that one!" Itachi snarls as he charges at Danzo and slams him to the ground.

The elderly man's eyes widen with terror. Once again, he was pinned by a lion. He likely wasn't going to survive this one.

"Do you think they are planning this? Is this some type of revenge?" Tsunade whispers to Jirayia.

"I think it is. That female is obviously pregnant. She jumped in front of the black male and he's only targeting Danzo. It almost looks like the other black male is trying to help him get even." Jirayia observes in a stunned voice.

He had never seen anything like it. Now, he was convinced that these creatures must have human intelligence. If not human intelligence, something very close to it.

They were protecting each other and it seemed to be in a way that was about more than just animal instinct. No, this was planned. Danzo was done for.

"RAWRRRR!" Suddenly a red furred leopard comes out and charges at the humans.

Two other leopards soon joined him. Tsunade sees that there was fourth leopard, but she was pregnant. She was hanging back. This was getting unnerving.

These creatures were too smart. Leopards and lions didn't share caves. No. This was something else entirely.

"No please! Don't!" She pleads with them and the leopards circle the humans.

It wasn't just the leopards though. Most of the other lions were as well. There were a few who were checking on the pregnant female who had been stunned though.

Hinata blinks as she tries to focus. Everything was spinning. Where was Sasuke? Were her cubs alright?

"It's alright, big sister. We won't let these big eyed humans hurt you anymore. Sasuke and Itachi are chasing after the one that hit you." Hanabi explains.

She wasn't entirely certain that Hinata would understand her at the moment. Those fake fangs were brutal. Humans were such a brutal species. She really didn't like them.

"Okay." Hinata whispers.

It was such a struggle to keep her eyes open, but she knew that her Mate would come back soon. Everything would be alright, once Sasuke was back.

Meanwhile Sasuke had caught up with his brother. He smirks when he saw that Itachi had the human pinned. He was going to pay for what he did to his Mate. It was really that simple.

"Thank you, brother." He murmurs.

"Of course. He attacked your Mate. His life was forfeit, the second that he decided to do that." Itachi says as he gets up and allows his brother to saunter closer to Danzo.

"They're talking to each other." Danzo observes with awe and terror.

He couldn't understand what they were saying. It came out as a series of growls and rumbles, but the two lions were clearly communicating. Danzo was damn sure that it wasn't just vocalizations.

It was almost as if, the second black lion was getting off of him and allowing the first to attack him. Was it possible that the original one had been the father of that lavender eyed female's cubs? Was this revenge?

"Die!" Sasuke snarls at Danzo as he lunges at him and wraps his mighty jaws around his throat, literally tearing his head off with a series of mighty shakes.

"I imagine he tastes like chicken." Itachi muses as he watches his brother ensure that the big eyed human would never again threaten his family.

He was proud of his foolish little brother. Not only had he Mated and sired cubs, he was protecting his family. Sasuke hadn't hesitated at all to give that human exactly what he deserved.

The younger Uchiha lets out a roar of triumph. That roar distracted everyone. Well everyone except the humans. That's when they started hitting all the lions and leopards with tranquilizers. They never had a chance.

"Is that all of them?!" Tsunade demands a few minutes later.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. The busty blonde had never been so terrified in all her life. They had done it. They had discovered a new species. Well actually, it was likely they had discovered two!

"I think that's all of them. I'll radio our team and we'll get them shipped back to the States. That should be enough to knock them all out for several hours. By then, we'll have them properly restrained." Tobirama says.

Hashirama nods in agreement. This was an amazing discovery. It might even change the entire world. He couldn't believe it!

"What about Danzo?" He asks.

"You're right. We need to check on him. That roar means that the lions might still be by him. Be careful." Jirayia says as he heads towards the sound of the roars with his teammates.

They all had tranquilizers and real guns on them. Now that they surely outnumbered the other two lions, they were confident that they could handle anything.

"Oh God!" Tsunade cries out in horror when she saw Danzo.

His head had been completely ripped off. It was an utterly gruesome sight. She had never liked Danzo, but she wouldn't have wished his fate on anyone. The woman felt as though she was going vomit at the grisly scene.

"Tsunade, don't look!" Jirayia tells her as he fires off his tranquilizers.

The Uchiha brothers never knew what hit them. They both go down instantly. This left the team to look at each other uncertainly.

"What are we going to about this?" Kakashi asks.

"He attacked them. The lioness was just defending her Mate. Well at least I think they are Mates. She's clearly pregnant. It was all so targeted. I don't think that its just their bodies that are human in appearance." Tsunade whispers as she watches the Uchiha brothers unconsciously shift into their human forms.

"Well you have to give them this much. Those two are handsome sons of a bitches. I can see why there were a couple of pregnant lionesses." Kakashi chuckles.

"KAKASHI! Is now REALLY the time to be such a pervert?!" The busty blonde demands.

Jirayia finds himself chuckling despite the situation. He had desperately needed that laugh. He found himself rather grateful to his former student.

A long time ago, he had taught at a university. Kakashi had been one of his prized pupils. Years later, they had ended up assigned to the research time and the rest was history.

"I'm just saying. Well we can just say that Danzo went missing out in the bush. I don't really have the heart to turn him in for murder. In his mind, he was defending his Mate. His Mate is pregnant. Had I been in his position, I probably would have torn Danzo's dick off instead of his head." Kakashi observes cheerfully.

Jirayia didn't know whether to laugh at that confession or to be disturbed. He decides on a combination of both. Still they had more important things to worry about than the silver haired man's possible sadistic streak.

"We need to get moving." He says simply and Tobirama nods as he calls for backup.

It didn't take long for it to arrive. Unfortunately, it did take longer than any of them felt comfortable with to gather all the lions and leopards. They were now all in their human forms, but still. That was generally 100-200 pounds each, if they were dealing with an adult. There were also some children.

"This seems like an actual society." Hashirama says.

"Possibly. It's clear that they have been living here for awhile. I found some gourds. I think they use them like cups or canteens. They are using tools!" Tobirama observes with childlike wonder.

He couldn't believe this. Tobirama had become somewhat cynical and jaded in his old age. There were very few things that surprised him anymore. This certainly had. This could truly change everything!

"Tools?! That's astounding. We should send another team back later to investigate the site more thoroughly. For now, we have to get them transported back to the U.S. Who knows how long the tranquilizers will last on them?" His brother replies.

That was a good point. They would investigate the site further later. For now, getting the lions and leopards back to the government took priority.

"Be careful with the pregnant females. Hmm that's strange. For some reason they didn't turn back." Tobirama observes.

"Perhaps they can't change back when they are pregnant." Tsunade theorizes.

"I suppose that's possible. This does raise so many interesting questions." The white haired man says.

The others nod in agreement. An hour later, they had put every lion and leopard onto their cars and were driving off. They would need a special jet to carry them off. Thankfully, the government could provide that.

They could hardly fit all of these animals into the helicopter that they used. There was no possible way that they could have flown commercial either. No, they were going to travel in style.

"Are you ready for this?" Jirayia asks Tsunade.

"I was going to ask you the same question, old man." She says with a smirk as they wait for the private jet to arrive.

Jirayia chuckles. Well that was Tsunade for you. She had always been a firecracker. That certainly was one thing that he doubted was likely to change anytime soon.

"It looks like our ride is here." Kakashi observes.

"Everyone get the nekos onto the plane as quickly as possible. Make sure that we have enough tranquilizers and the restraints are thorough. We don't need one of them waking up and attacking us on the way back." Hashirama states.

The others nod in agreement. That would be a disaster. Those teeth and claws could be quite deadly and no one was eager to face of with an angry lion or leopard.

"Got it!" They say and a few minutes later, the private jet takes to the air.

Tsunade looks out the window and sighs. It was regrettable that it had come to this. Danzo had made the discovery of a lifetime and he had died. Well at least the world was about to find out the truth. Hybrids really did exist!


	14. Chapter 14

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 14

When Sasuke woke up the next day, he was in a strange place. He didn't recognize anything. The only thing that he understood was that he was now in his human form and restrained by his feet and hands. The lion hybrid didn't understand that those were handcuffs. He just knew that he had to find Hinata and his pride.

"Hinata! Hinata! Itachi! Anyone?! Are you here?!" He cries out desperately.

"It looks like the younger black hybrid is awake." Jirayia says as he observes the lion behind a special wall of glass.

They could see the hybrids, but the hybrids couldn't see them. The white haired man was almost positive that the hybrid was actually speaking his own language. He might not understand the words, but the emotion was clear. The young male was terrified and desperate.

"It looks like it." Tsunade replies as she watches anxiously.

That poor creature. He sounded frightened out of his mind and he was looking around in desperation. Was it possible that he was looking for his pride mates?

Sasuke had never been more relieved when he saw Hinata only a few feet away. She was still asleep. He knew that she was asleep because he saw her chest rising and falling with her breathing.

"Thank goodness. She didn't shift back." He whispers as he wiggles over to her, on his human belly.

It was not comfortable, but it was the only real way that he could move with the restraints on his feet. He knew that he couldn't risk shifting now, but he had to get to his Mate.

"Sasuke!" Itachi calls out to his brother from the other side of his room.

"Itachi? You're alive! Are you hurt?" Sasuke asks, once he gets to his sleeping Mate's side.

"I don't think I'm hurt. Room is spinning. Izumi is alright. I don't think the big eyed humans were trying to kill us. They wanted to capture us though." His brother reasons.

The raven haired neko didn't know how to respond to that. He knew that should be comforting to some degree, but it didn't comfort him. There were worse things than death and they had no idea what the big eyed humans really wanted from him.

How could he have been so stupid? Why did he allow himself to believe that the big eyed humans had gone away? He shouldn't have gotten his Mate pregnant. Not before they knew the humans were gone!

"Do we know why?" Sasuke forces himself to voice the question on his mind.

"I'm afraid not." Izumi says and Sasuke blinks as he notices that the entire pride seemed to be in this strange cave together.

"How many of the others are awake?" The neko asks.

Itachi sighs as he glances around the room. Perhaps half a dozen of their pride mates had woken up. He was sure that more would soon follow. Whatever strange magic the fake fangs had was running out.

"About six or so. I'd have to do a count. More will wake up soon. At least I believe that they will. I don't think that the fake fangs can kill our people. They only put them to sleep." His older brother says and Sasuke nods.

That was something at least. They were going to need every neko they could to get out of there. His eyes widen in horror when he sees that their cubs were also in the cave. Nothing was sacred to big eyed humans!

"We must stay calm and think this through. Panicking is not going to get us out of here." Hiashi states.

Sasuke sighs in relief. Well Hiashi was up and about. That was something at least. The Hyuga Patriarch might be able to think up a plan. At the moment, all Sasuke could think about was Hinata and their poor cubs!

"We really should kill them all." Gaara growls as he stumbles to his feet.

Well the red head was stumbling to his feet as much as you could when you were wearing handcuffs and restraints on your legs. Still it was a good try.

"While I'm certainly sympathetic to that suggestion, I don't see them. That and we don't really know where we are." Neji points out.

Sasuke frowns as he considers that. That was a good point. Did it really matter though? If they could escape, they would just find a new territory. He loved their territory, but getting out of his was the top priority. If they were lucky, they might find their way back home.

"They'll return. The big eyed humans will come back. They didn't go through all that trouble to capture us, just to put us in this case." Sasuke says.

"Sasuke?" A feminine, shaky voice whispers and the lion neko looks down at his Mate.

Sasuke's heart leapt with joy! Hinata was awake! She was awake and coherent enough to speak! That had to be a good sign!

"Hinata!" He exclaims happily and tries his best to nuzzle her.

Oh how he hated these restraints. He couldn't even hold his Mate. These big eyed humans wouldn't allow him the dignity of comforting his pregnant Mate properly. Monsters. The lot them were monsters.

"Thank goodness. You're alright." She murmurs as she tries to return his nuzzle.

"Alright is stretching it. We have no clue where we are." Hanabi says.

"It looks like more and more of them are waking up. I really think that they are communicating in their own language. It's incredible." Kakashi whispers.

Hashirama and Tobirama nod in agreement. This could be the discovery that changed everything. Though it did raise several questions.

How many hybrids were there? Where did they all live? How had they evaded detection in the modern world for so long? Just how intelligent were they? If they sincerely had their own language, that implied they were relatively on par with humans.

"If they have human intelligence or something close to it, we can't really hold them." Hashirama says.

"Don't be ridiculous. We keep chimps in zoos all the time and they are very close to our intelligence. That and we can't exactly release them into the wild. The world is growing smaller and smaller, next time maybe poachers will find them instead of people like us." Tobirama points out.

Hashirama feels himself frowning. He didn't like it, but his brother was raising some very valuable points. Sooner or later, someone else would discover they hybrids.

What would happen when that happened? Would it be other scientists or "friendly" people? Would they just sell the hybrids to the highest bidder? Maybe they would kill them out of terror.

"That's true. I still would feel very uneasy about keeping something in captivity that is smarter than a chimp. That's imprisonment." His brother counters.

Now it was Jirayia's turn to frown. He hadn't thought of it like that. He had been overjoyed at the scientific discovery. Sadly, he hadn't really considered the ethical implications before now.

"If they can talk to each other, maybe we can teach them to speak our language." Jirayia suggests.

"That would be amazing. Dolphins can be trained to communicate to a degree. Maybe something similar will be possible here." Tsunade agrees.

"I spoke to the Department on the phone and thoroughly briefed them on the situation, by the way." Tobirama says.

Suddenly, every scientist was watching the younger white haired man with a crippling intensity. This was the moment that they had all been waiting for. Recognition and orders from the department.

"For now, they want us to watch them. Make observations and do some testing. We already got blood, saliva, and hair samples off them while they were out. Obviously, we should monitor their vitals. No dissection though. They're all far too valuable for that." The man finishes.

There were some sighs of relief. Most of the scientists didn't want to perform a dissection until after one of the hybrids died naturally. It felt far too close to murder with the hybrids' mostly human appearance.

"Good to know." Tsunade whispers.

"I really do think that the black lions are Mated to the pregnant lionesses. The younger black one in particular is extremely protective. It feels far too human." Hashirama says.

There were collective nods. Unbeknownst to the other scientists, five of their company had one thought on their mind at that moment. Danzo's death.

Kakashi certainly understood why the black lion had done it. As he had said, he would have done worse. He just hoped that no one else found out about it. The last thing they needed was to put down one of the hybrids down for defending his Mate.

"I think it's sweet really." Jirayia says.

It was romantic. The black furred hybrid was willing to defend his Mate to the death. It also looked like his "brother" had helped him do so. Well at least Jirayia thought they were brothers. Genetic testing would confirm or disprove that theory in time.

Tsunade was disturbed. Those actions suggested that they were dealing with beings who had human intelligence. If that was true, they had essentially kidnapped them.

That would make what they were doing very wrong, but it would also be wrong not to take them. This was potentially the greatest scientific discovery ever. It would be right up there with discovering alien life. They couldn't NOT take them.

"The younger black one immediately went for one of the pregnant females. I think that these are monogamous pairs." Tsunade observes.

Tobirama nods in agreement. That was his theory as well. Honestly, he knew that they would likely be happier in the wild. They wouldn't be safer though.

As he said earlier, someone else was going to find them sooner or later. The world was getting smaller and smaller. It was frankly a miracle that they hadn't been discovered sooner.

"If we are going to keep them for awhile, we'll have to feed them." Kakashi points out.

There were murmurs of agreement. The hybrids would need to eat. That brought to mind two major questions though. What did they eat and how much of it did they need to eat?

"I think it would be a good idea to try meat. Let's cook it to be the safe side. They are probably used to eating it raw, but one can never tell." Jirayia points out.

"Very well. I suppose chicken and beef would be a safe start." Hashirama reasons.

A short while later, some cooked beef and chicken is quickly placed inside the room with the hybrids. The scientists who dared to go in to deliver the food were wearing full body owner and were armed. They weren't going to take any chances.

The hybrids stare at the humans. It was likely they were confused by the body armor. That or they were afraid. Of course, there was the very real possibility that it was both.

In addition to the food, they left some water in bowls for the creatures. Whether or not they would understand the concept of bottled water was a mystery. It was probably better safe than sorry. With that, the very nervous humans got out of the room where the hybrids were being kept.

"They're feeding us?" Hiashi observes in shock.

"Wait! Don't! It could be poisoned!" Mei exclaims, despite the fact that she had just woken up.

"There is good reason to be wary, but I don't think that they would go through all this trouble just to poison us." Gaara mutters.

Mei frowns as she considers this. That was a very logical point. Still she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She was pregnant and the big eyed humans had captured them.

"Who shall risk it?" Hiashi whispers.

All the hybrids glance at each other warily. No one really wanted to be the one to risk eating, but they were all hungry. Someone had to make the attempt.

"I'll do it." Neji says as he grabs some of the chicken in his mouth, after leaning over to reach it.

He chews and blinks. Hmm. It was warm. The humans had not only gotten them food, they had cooked it for them. After a moment's hesitation, he swallows.

"I think it's safe to eat." Neji calls out to the others.

The other hybrids watch him warily. They were all worried about poison. A few tense minutes pass and it was decided that the food was safe to eat.

Eating was made awkward by the fact that they couldn't use their hands or transform. Somehow though, they managed it. Sasuke watches his Mate struggle to eat in this undignified fashion and felt his fury grow.

He hated big eyed humans. Why couldn't those freaks just leave them alone?! His Mate was pregnant. She didn't need this kind of stress!

"Are you alright, my love?" He asks Hinata softly.

"I think so. At least now, we have food and water. That's something." She mumbles.

He was going to find a way to protect his pride and his family. This wasn't right. He had to find a way to fix this. Sasuke promises himself that he would somehow. He just wasn't sure how yet.

Back in Africa, the absence of the nekos was certainly being noticed. It was also causing a panic. The other hybrids all knew that something was wrong. They just didn't know what yet.

"Someone should go and check the caves." Kisame points out.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. The lions are very protective of their caves." Karin says fretfully.

The emergency meeting had started when the Sun rose up in the sky and was still going on now. The Moon was just beginning to come out. It had been going on for many hours.

"I know they don't like it, but we still gotta know." Naruto says to his Mate as he nuzzles her.

He knew that Karin wasn't like him. She was wary of bigger predator hybrids. The blonde realized that she had good reason to be, but still. This was important. If something had happened to the lions and leopards, then it might happen to them next.

"Yeah. We have to get to the bottom of this. It's so bad that even Mikoto and Fugaku came back to see what is going on." Suigetsu points out.

Sakura flinches. That meant things were bad. The elder Uchihas wouldn't venture into Hyuga Territory without good reason.

"Alright. I guess if we take them with us, we can always explain. We might be worried over nothing." The flamingo says.

Mikoto shakes her head. A mother's instincts were never wrong. Her instincts were screaming at her that something had happened. She just wasn't sure what yet, but she was going to find out.

"I hope you are right." She offers.

"You hope that I'm right, but you don't think that I am." The other hybrid replies surprisingly boldly.

"I'm afraid that's an accurate assessment." Mikoto says as she leans into Fugaku for support.

She didn't know what was going on, but she had a bad feeling about all of this. The dark beauty was grateful to have her Mate by her side. If it wasn't for him, Mikoto probably would be panicking right now.

"We'll find out what happened. For now, we should move out. We'll head back to our territory. Maybe Sasuke and Itachi went there to warn us about the big eyed humans." Fugaku says as the large group of hybrids begin to make their way towards the caves.

Jugo, the hawk hybrid, was flying overheard. If the big eyed humans were nearby, he would be able to spot them. Hopefully, he would be able to spot them before the humans realized what was going on.

When they arrived at the caves, every hybrid gasps. There wasn't a single neko in sight. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

There should at least be a few lions here with their cubs. Even if they were out hunting, it was rare for a pride to leave their territory completely unattended. This didn't make any sense.

"Tracks. It's from the strange creatures that the big eyed humans use." Suigetsu observes.

"The big eyed humans took them!" Karin cries out mournfully.

If that was the case, then they might already be dead. Oh no! How were they going to break this news to the Uchihas, Karin wonders to herself.

"It's alright, my love. We rescued Gaara once. I'm sure that we can rescue them again." Naruto whispers as he licks his poor Mate's cheek.

"You're right. We'll find a way to get them back." Karin agrees.

Meanwhile back with the scientists and captured nekos, Tobirama watches them through the glass. The hybrids were all eating and drinking. That was a good sign.

"Should we at least undo the cuffs on the pregnant females? It doesn't feel right to make them squirm like that." Jirayia asks.

"They might attack." Tsunade says, though she was wincing because she could see Jirayia's point.

This felt wrong. The creatures were obviously terrified. They might or might not have human intelligence, but they did seem to have some sort of complex social system. The black males and the red leopard were particularly protect of the pregnant females.

Now that she thought about it, Tsunade had no idea what four leopards were doing with a group of lions. Maybe a hybrid was a hybrid and it didn't really matter what subspecies they were? That or maybe cat hybrids stuck together. Who knew?

"We could stun them before we undid their restraints. The others are fully bound." Kakashi observes.

"Stunning them again, is just going to cause the others to fly into a rage. I have a different idea. Sleeping gas." The busty blonde suggests.

Hashirama tilts his head as he considers this. That might be the more humane options. It was unlikely the heavily pregnant females were much of a threat. They could allow them some movement.

"Very well. That's what we'll do." He says as he hits some buttons on the controls and soon enough the sleeping gas floods the room.

The lions and leopards were eating and drinking. They were completely unsuspecting. The gas was powerful and most of them were out like a light before they even realized what was going on.

"Hinata! Don't breathe! There's something wrong with the air!" Sasuke calls out in terror.

It was too late though. His eyes widen when his Mate falls asleep again. He tries to rouse her, but he was sleepy. So very sleepy.

The humans wait a few minutes to make sure that all the lions and leopards were asleep, before sending in some people to undo the restraints on the pregnant females. They swiftly depart. None of them wanted to get caught in the lions' (and leopards') den!

A few hours later, the hybrids wake up. Hinata looks around in terror and sighs in relief when she saw that Sasuke was okay. Thank goodness.

"Hinata! You're free! Well sorta. You're not restrained anymore!" Sasuke observes in amazement.

"I'm not?" She asks and then she looks down at her paws and smiles.

Sasuke was right. She was no longer bond. Neither were any of the other pregnant females. That was a first. Were the big eyed humans actually being somewhat merciful?

"I think that for some reason, they decided to unbind the pregnant females. I'm not sure why. Concepts like mercy are foreign to them." Gaara observes in an irritated fashion.

"I have to agree. It doesn't seem like them." Itachi says as he watches Izumi carefully.

She was free now as well. What was going on? This didn't make any sense. Since when did big eyed humans have a conscience?

"This just keeps getting more and strange. Why are they feeding us? Why did they free them?" Hiashi wonders out loud.

The scariest thing about Hiashi's question was that none of them had a real answer to that. The hybrids had no idea what was going on. In some ways, that was worse than physical torture.

"Well it looks like they are awake now." Kakashi observes from behind the glass and the others nod.

This was still an incredible scientific discovery. Now they had to figure out if there was a way to communicate with the otherworldly beings. There had to be a way.

"Do you really think that we can teach them English?" Tsunade asks in a stunned voice.

"I'm not entirely certain, but we should try." Jirayia says and the others nod in agreement.

That would be quite the grand feat. Teaching English to the beautiful beasts. Surely, there had to be a way. Clearly, they were highly intelligent. It just remained to be see to what degree.

Jirayia frowns as he watches the hybrids. Danzo was missing all this. His greed had been his undoing.

Without him, they never would have found the hybrids. Unfortunately, he had paid the ultimate price for his treachery. He doubted anyone was really going to miss him. Still he did feel guilty. They should have tried to save their colleague somehow.

"I know what you're thinking. It isn't our fault. He made his choices." Tsunade says as she places her hand on Jirayia's shoulder.

Her friend sighs and nods. That was true. Danzo had known what he was doing. He was far from innocent. Besides, who could really blame the lions for protecting their own. They would have done the same, if positions were reversed.

"I know. It's still tragic." He whispers.

"Very. Come on. It's late. We should probably get some sleep. The cameras are rolling. We won't miss anything." She offers kindly.

After hesitating for a moment, Jirayia nods. It didn't take him long to follow his friend off towards their rooms. The rest of the crew soon joins them.

This was the beginning of something amazing. He just knew it. Jirayia didn't know what was going to happen next, but he knew that it was going to be exciting.

"I guess we'll see." He whispers to himself.

Could the hybrids be taught to talk? That would truly be incredible. He could only hope that that was indeed possible. It would make things so much easier on everyone involved.


	15. Chapter 15

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

 **Chapter Notation:** I went back and revised chapter 14 slightly. Fugaku and Mikoto don't know about the Hyuga Pride going missing yet.

Chapter 15

Two weeks later and Sasuke was sure of two things. The first was that the humans were attempting to teach them their language. The second was that it was almost certain that the pregnant females would give birth in this strange place. Sasuke didn't mind the former. It was the latter that made him nervous.

"Sasuke, it will be alright." Hinata whispers.

"I know. I'll make it alright. Somehow." The raven furred lion promises her and Hinata nods.

She knew that they would get out of this. The lioness just wasn't sure how. They would though. They had to for the sake of their cubs.

"I know. Are you hungry?" Hinata asks softly.

The hybrids had been in this strange place for two weeks. In that time, they were unbound from their restraints. Instead of handcuffs and binding, they now all had shock collars on.

If they tried to attack a big eyed humans, they'd get shocked. Once they realized that, the hybrids weren't as keen on attacking the big eyed humans as much. It was too painful to do so.

"A little. What food did they bring us today?" Sasuke inquires curiously.

"They brought us these things that I think they call cheeseburgers. Try one. They're good." Hinata says with a smile as she nudges one towards him with her nose.

Sasuke smiles and takes it. Well he would need to eat to keep his strength up. That was important. He needed to stay strong for their cubs.

Their poor cubs that were well on their way. Sasuke knew that he should be thrilled that they were almost here, but he couldn't stop worrying about them. No one knew what the big eyed humans were planning and their cubs would be defenseless. They wouldn't even be able to run away from danger.

"This is pretty good." Sasuke says thoughtfully, after a couple bites.

Hinata's tail swishes. She was obviously pleased that he liked the food. Sasuke sighs and could only wish that he was as optimistic as his beautiful Mate. He honestly didn't know how she did it.

How did Hinata keep her spirits so high in this dangerous situation? It was nothing short of a miracle really. If their positions had been reversed, Sasuke knew that he wouldn't have fared nearly as well as a pregnant female inside a big eyed human's prison. Hinata's ability to cope was nothing short of amazing.

"Good. I'm glad you like it." She says as she snuggles into Sasuke's legs.

He was in his human form. Sasuke thought that staying in his human form might make the humans less likely to attack. If he looked like them, that might garner some sympathy. Well at least that was his logic.

Sasuke wasn't sure how accurate this theory was, but so far it was working. Whether or not that was why the humans hadn't attacked yet, he was uncertain. It was something though.

"I'd like it a lot better, if we were free. How are you feeling today, my love?" He whispers.

"About as well as can be expected. The cubs will be here soon. I can't lie. I would prefer them to be born on the Savannah, but I think they will be alright. The big eyed humans don't seem to be in any hurry to kill us. I'm still not sure what they want though." She admits.

Mei sighs as she saunters over to Sasuke and Hinata. Normally, a leopard wouldn't approach lions, but this was different. She had to tell the others what she had heard.

"I'm beginning to understand their language more and more. From what little I understand, their goal doesn't seem to be to kill us or to take our territory. They want to learn about us." Mei informs them.

Hinata blinks. They wanted to learn about hybrids, but why? That didn't make any sense.

"Are you certain that's what they desire?" The pregnant lioness asks.

"I'm certain. That's why they haven't killed us." An equally pregnant Mei replies.

Hinata pauses as she considers that. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She wasn't entirely certain. After all, Mei hadn't said what the humans were hoping to learn from them.

"How much of their language, have you learned?" Hiashi asks the leopard.

"I'm not an expert yet, but I'm learning more by the day. I just hadn't bothered to inform them of that fact. The element of surprise can be a very powerful weapon." The leopard reasons and Hiashi nods in agreement.

That much was true. Well maybe there was some value in keeping the leopards around, after all. Perhaps Sasuke was truly onto something with these interspecies friendships.

"If we continue to play the part of fools for too long, the humans may lose interest and kill us." Itachi points out as he nuzzles Izumi comfortingly.

Like Sasuke, he felt a tremendous amount of guilt. He couldn't believe that he had been so foolish. Why had he gotten his Mate pregnant before they knew for certain that the big eyed humans were gone. Apparently, Sasuke wasn't the only foolish Uchiha.

"That's true. Do you think that the other hybrids are safe?" Hanabi whispers.

That's when everyone's blood ran cold. They had no way of knowing what had happened to the others back on the Savannah. It was possible that they were all fine and that the big eyed humans hadn't found them. Unfortunately, it was also possible that they had also been captured and were being held nearby.

"I don't know. Let's focus on ourselves first. We can't help them, if we are stuck here." Kankuro points out and there were murmurs of agreement.

Sasuke nods and tries to hide his wince. What about his friends? There was still Suigetsu, Karin, Jugo, Naruto, and even Kisame to consider. Not to mention, what about the Uchiha Pride? What had happened to all of them?

He had never felt so helpless in all his life. How was he supposed to protect his friends and family, if Sasuke didn't even know where they were. It wasn't right. This was all wrong.

Meanwhile back on the Savannah. The other hybrids were now at the Hyuga Caves. All of them were alarmed.

There were the lion caves, but there were no lions. It looked like they hadn't been there for awhile either. Damn it. What could have happened?

"The scent is faint, but I smell that there were some big eyed humans here." Naruto says and the others nod at the observation.

Karin didn't like it to say the least. Something had clearly happened to the big cats. The big eyed humans must have killed them. That or at least kidnapped them.

"I think they are still alive or at least they were initially. If the big eyed humans had just killed them, we would have at least found their bodies." The red head points out.

Jugo frowns as he considers his friend's words. Karin was right. There weren't any bodies. There was still a chance that their friends were still alive. A slim chance, but a chance.

"We should at least warn the Uchiha Pride about what happened. They deserve to know that something happened to Sasuke and Itachi." He points out.

Kisame sighs and nods. This wasn't going to be pretty. In fact, this was going to be absolutely brutal. He knew how closely knit Itachi's former pride was. This was going to be utterly devastating.

"I'll do it. Everyone else, keep searching. Maybe we'll be able to find them. We were able to rescue Gaara, after all." He reasons.

"Alright. You should go tell Fugaku and Mikoto what happened. We'll try to track their scents." Suigetsu says and Kisame nods as he heads off.

He couldn't believe this. Big eyed humans just didn't know when to quit. Why couldn't they just leave their kind alone, Kisame wonders to himself as he makes the long trek to the Uchiha Territory.

A few hours later, Fugaku Uchiha blinks when he saw a very strange sight. A crocodile was entering their territory. He recognized this one though.

Kisame. Kisame was one of Itachi's friends. The fact that the other hybrid would make such along journey didn't bode well. Immediately, Fugaku races out to speak with the crocodile.

"What happened?" He demands.

"Nobody had heard from the Hyugas and leopards for awhile. We all got nervous and decided to check on them. When we went to the caves, no one was there." Kisame replies.

That's when Mikoto bounds over to her Mate's side. The crocodile mentally winces. This wasn't going to be pretty. It had to be done though. They had a right to know what happened to their sons. (Well at least they had a right to know what might have happened.)

"What's going on?" The dark beauty asks anxiously.

"Kisame says that the Hyugas and leopards weren't in the caves." Fugaku says as he nuzzles his Mate comfortingly.

Mikoto frowns. That sounded ominous. Still there had to be a reasonable explanation. Surely, they wouldn't just up and disappear.

"Perhaps they were merely out hunting." She suggests.

"Doubtful. They wouldn't have taken all the cubs with them and it was left completely undefended. I don't want to scare yet, but we also picked up the faint scent of big eyed humans." Kisame whispers.

That caused the blood of the Uchihas to run cold. They both knew what that meant. The big eyed humans had either killed their sons or they had kidnapped them.

"I assume you didn't find any bodies?" Fugaku whispers.

"No bodies were found. We think that they grabbed them like they did to Gaara. No one really knows though. I thought you had a right to know. We're looking for them. I promise you that much." The crocodile replies.

Mikoto and Fugaku sigh in relief. As long as they hadn't found bodies, there was a chance that Sasuke and Itachi were alive. Neither of them knew how big of a chance there was, but it was better than nothing.

"Thank you. Thank you, for telling us." The Uchiha lioness says.

"Of course. Like I said, you deserve to know. Well I have to head back. I want to join the search party." Kisame says as he begins slinking off.

Fugaku quickly nuzzles his Mate. He knew his Mate. She was likely very close to falling apart.

"We'll find out what happened." He whispers.

"I know we will. I hate big eyed humans." She growls and Fugaku nods in agreement.

A few days later, the lion and leopard nekos had decided to just go with the humans strange attempts of communication. Knowledge was power and people were afraid of what would happen, if the humans though they were boring. No one was particularly thrilled about using the "Human Tongue," but they had no other choice.

Sasuke, Gaara, and Itachi were amongst the faster learners. They had to be for their Mates sake. At least this way, they might know what was coming.

At the moment, Sasuke was having a "lesson" with the white haired one. Well one of the white haired ones. This one was a bit younger than the other one and his mane was shorter. He called himself Tobirama.

"Tobirama." He says as he points to himself.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. This human really was trying to communicate with him. What he actually wanted was anyone's guess though. The Uchiha couldn't help but feel uneasy about the entire situation, but he had to try.

"Sasuke." The neko replies as he points to himself.

"Your name is Sasuke?" Tobirama inquires and Sasuke nods his head.

He didn't think giving his name was going to change anything. The lion was already his prisoner. If he ever managed to escape, it wasn't like he could use it to track him down.

Tobirama beams. This was wonderful news! The hybrid was communicating. Well at least a little bit. It seemed like he was understanding.

"Sasuke." He says again, seeing that it pleased the human.

"Very good! Very good! You're learning." Tobirama says as he takes out a picture.

It was a picture of Hinata on it. The lioness was still in her animal form. It seemed like the pregnant females either couldn't transform while pregnant or they refused to do so. Still he was certain Sasuke would recognize her.

"Your wife?" Tobirama asks.

"Mine." Sasuke says as he looks at the picture and then places a hand over his heart.

He didn't know how they had made a copy of Hinata. It was just a copy of her. It had to be. The image was far too small to be his Mate. It was like a cave drawing, but more detailed. Humans were very artistic, Sasuke muses.

Tobirama tilts his head to the side. Right. Maybe the concept of marriage was foreign to him. Though he had gotten his answer. It certainly wasn't a mystery who had gotten that female pregnant.

"Well you are managing to get your point across rather well." Tobirama observes and Sasuke nods as he snatches the picture out of Tobirama's hands and holds it protectively.

He was a big eyed human. In Sasuke's mind, he didn't deserve to touch Hinata. Not even her cave painting!

"Mine." He insists and Tobirama rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

Idly, he wonders if the other man thought that he was trying to steal his Mate or something. Sasuke was certainly a rather possessive individual it seemed. Maybe it was a neko thing.

Elsewhere in the research facility, Tsunade was examining Izumi. She was clearly pregnant. The busty blonde was fascinated by the fact that they had captured three pregnant females, but she wasn't entirely certain what constituted a normal pregnancy for their species.

"It's alright, my love. I won't let that big eyed human hurt you." Itachi whispers to Izumi as he strokes her beautiful fur.

"You have the shock collar on though." She whispers back.

"That doesn't matter. I will find a way to protect you and our cubs. I promise you that." The older Uchiha murmurs.

Tsunade blinks. They were clearly communicating. She had tried to take the lioness back for an exam, but male hybrid wouldn't let her leave without him. It was beginning to become rather obvious why that was the case.

This was a Mated pair. Unlike regular lions, it looked like these hybrids were monogamous. It was a fascinating discovery to say the least.

"Well from what I can tell your pregnancy is a normal one. I'm going on the assumption that your pregnancy follows that of a regular lioness." She muses.

"Release us." Itachi says.

He had been learning more and more English. This human female appeared at least sympathetic towards them. Itachi was slightly hopeful that perhaps he could release her.

"Your English is improving dramatically. You found yourself quite the smart Mate." Tsunade tells Izumi.

"Mine." She growls warningly at Tsunade as she nuzzles Itachi.

The blonde rubs the back of her head sheepishly. Lovely. The lioness thought that she was trying to steal her Mate.

Well Itachi was rather attractive in his human form, but he was far too young for her. That and he was a different species. A different species that was only just now learning English. For obvious reasons, Tsunade wasn't trying to steal the other woman's man.

"Always." Itachi says smugly as he nuzzles his Mate.

Meanwhile the leopards had all banded together. They were warily watching Hashirama as the man attempted to teach them English. It wasn't going so well.

Gaara had learned a new word and he was deploying it gleefully. He liked how annoyed and crestfallen the other man looked when he called him that. It was funny.

"Idiot." The red head says proudly and Mei laughs as she nuzzles her Mate.

Hashirama sighs. Clearly, the nekos could at least copy sounds. He couldn't tell how much of anything they actually understood, but they were at least capable of speaking English. He suspected that red head was messing with him though.

"Go home." Temari says.

This one seemed fairly even tempered. They might be able to talk him into letting them go home. Well at least that was Temari's hope. Whether or not she was right, remained to be seen.

"I'm sorry. We can't take you home. It's not safe for you there." He says.

Hashirama hoped that the leopard could understand him. Temari seemed to be learning rather quickly. Maybe they could find a way to bridge the gap.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asks Hinata on the other side of the room.

Hinata glances at Kakashi warily. He had a friendly face for a human. The lioness wasn't sure that meant much though. Big eyed humans had been the bane of all of their existences.

"Want Sasuke." She says to him bluntly.

"You want what?" The silver haired man asks in confusion.

Well it was a start. Clearly, this lioness was beginning to learn English. She was learning it enough that she able to express that she wanted something.

For the life of him, he didn't know what Sasuke was supposed to be Perhaps it was some kind of food. She might even be asking for medication. Who could really tell?

"Want Sasuke." Hinata repeats again.

If she kept trying, the human might understand what she was saying. She wanted to be with her Mate. Unfortunately, he was on the other side of the room. Tobirama was giving him English lessons.

"What's Sasuke?" He asks a little helplessly.

"Sasuke!" She says as she glances towards her Mate.

That's when Kakashi looks to see what had her attention and he blinks. Ohhh. Well that explained everything.

"Is he your husband?" Kakashi asks.

Hinata tilts her head to the side. She wasn't sure what husband was. She shakes her head and places her paw on her belly. They already knew she was pregnant and they were prisoners anyway. There was no harm.

"Sasuke." She states bluntly.

"Ohhhh. I'll take that as a yes then. Alright. Alright. You can have your Sasuke." Kakashi says with a chuckle as he leads the lioness over to the male neko and Tobirama.

"It seems she wants her "Sasuke." She was quite insistent about it. I guess they have names." Kakashi muses.

Hinata waddles over to Sasuke and Sasuke smiles as he wraps his arms around her and the two sit together. Hinata lays in his lap and snuggles into him while Sasuke pets her. The scientists could only stare in wonder.

"Well it seems the Mated Pairs are rather dedicated to each other. Lions aren't really monogamous, but the hybrids are exhibiting human traits in that department." Tobirama observes in astonishment.

"They have cave paintings." Sasuke says as he shows Hinata her picture.

"Cave paintings, but no cave. Humans have strange magics." Hinata says as she sighs and snuggles into her Mate's petting.

She wanted to be out of here. She was constantly terrified, but her Mate's touch brought her comfort. Somehow, they were all still alive. It didn't look like the humans wanted to kill them. Maybe Mei was right.

"Very strange magics." Sasuke agrees as he rubs her belly.

"He calls her mine. The male calls himself Sasuke. I believe that's his name. That's what she was trying to say. She was trying to say she wanted him." The white haired man reasons.

Kakashi nods. Well that certainly seemed to be the case. There was something disturbingly cute about the way that the male was petting her stomach. He obviously new that she was pregnant. It looked like he was definitely the father and a proud one at that.

"Let's give them some privacy. I think that's enough lessons for today." Kakashi says with a chuckle and Tobirama nods.

He calls forth the other scientists and they head off to record their findings. It had been a most productive day. The nekos were learning English and they had found out a bit more about their Mating habits.

"It's the strangest thing, they appear to have human level bonds." Hashirama states once they were out of earshot of the lions and leopards.

"They're also capable of jealousy. I think the one pregnant female actually thought I was trying to steal her Mate." Tsunade says with a chuckle.

"What does she think you're a cougar?" Jirayia asks with a laugh, only to wince when his coworker smacks him in annoyance.

Tsunade feels herself twitch. Honestly, half the time Jirayia acted like he was still in high school. A cougar?! Hmpf. What was that supposed to mean?! She wasn't old!

"Jirayia, when are you going to learn not to provoke Tsunade?" Kakashi asks in amusement.

"Oh. It's all in good fun. I just wish she wasn't so violent. That's really not healthy." The white haired man muses and Kakashi could only shake his head in response.

Jirayia and Tsunade were well…Jirayia and Tsunade. The two of them would always bicker like cats and dogs. Some things would never change.

"All in all, I would say that it's been a very productive day. We've learned so much about their Mating habits. I don't think that they have evolved marriages. That or they don't understand the words husband and wife." Tobirama offers.

Hashirama nods. That much was true. Still it was rather obvious that they did have deep bonds with each other. He felt a bit guilty about essentially kidnapping them. Unfortunately, Tobirama was right.

The world was getting smaller and smaller. If they hadn't have found the nekos, someone else would have. That next person might not have been nearly as friendly as them. It likely would have ended in complete tragedy.

"I wonder what the cubs will look like." He muses.

"The pregnant females refuse to change back to their human forms. That or they can't shift while pregnant. I imagine that the cubs will be born in their animal forms." Tsunade says.

"It would be nice if we knew anything about their pregnancies. As of now, we are forced to wait and see." Jirayia says with a heavy sigh.

Tsunade nods in agreement. She would like to be able to help them more, but she simply didn't know enough. She knew almost nothing about their biology and might end up doing more harm than good.

"That's true. We'll just have to wait and see." She agrees.


	16. Chapter 16

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 16

A few weeks later and Sasuke was pacing outside of the room that the humans had given the pregnant females. The pregnant females who were now delivering their cubs. That meant that the expecting fathers were now a wreck.

"If they make any sounds of protest in our native tongue, we shall charge in and attack." Itachi assures his brother.

Sasuke nods. That was right. They were race in there and kill them. The humans were being friendlier than expected for big eyed humans, but no one was going to mess with their families!

"I still don't like this." Gaara mutters.

Gaara might have been a leopard, but he was in the same boat as Sasuke and Itachi. His Mate was going into labor with a bunch of big eyed humans watching her. In times like these, such things transcended species.

"I don't like it either. Unfortunately, there isn't much that we can do." Sasuke says with a sigh.

Hanabi prowls over to them. She wasn't entirely certain that this was safe. The big eyed humans had been feeding them and teaching them how to speak "English," but that didn't mean that they could be trusted.

"Are they are all alright?" She inquiries cautiously.

Hiashi was soon at his youngest cub's side. He didn't care for this situation in the slightest. If he couldn't be with Hinata, he was at the very least going to protect Hanabi. He wasn't going to let the young lioness neko out of his sight.

"They're pregnancies have been surprisingly normal given the situation. I think that they should be alright. That's assuming that the big eyed humans don't mess with the natural order of things." He says.

Hiashi was trying to project an image of confidence. The Hyuga Pride Male wasn't entirely certain that he was succeeding. He had to try though.

If his pride mates saw that he was falling to pieces,, they would follow suit. Hiashi Hyuga had to set a good example. So that was exactly what he was going to do.

"That's good." Hanabi says and he nods.

"Labor usually doesn't last long." Neji offers consolingly.

Every neko was on high alert. It seemed like the nekos had all gone into labor at the same time. Hiashi wasn't sure if that was a coincidence or maybe if their bodies had all synced up because they felt insecure in this place.

It was possible that they had gone into labor at the same time as way to help protect each other. Delivering your cubs around big eyed humans was bad enough, but having three nekos do it at separate times was even worse.

"That's true." He agrees with his nephew.

At least, he knew what was happening to his daughter. Hiashi couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for the Uchiha Pride. Mikoto and Fugaku had no idea what had happened to their sons.

Most lion nekos never knew the fate of their male cubs,, but the Uchihas were different. Somehow, they had maintained their bond. That meant that those two lions were likely suffering horribly now. Not knowing what was happening to your child was even worse than knowing.

A few minutes later, a small squeak is heard. Actually, two or three squeaks. They were so close together, that Hiashi wasn't sure.

"Sasuke? Hinata just delivered her cubs. As far as we can tell, they are perfectly healthy. Would you like to come inside and see?" Tsunade asks.

That was all Sasuke needed to hear. He immediately charges into the room. He shifts into his lion form and was immediately at his Mate's side.

Hinata had just given birth. So she was still in her animal form. She could have changed back, but was likely too exhausted to do so. That and this was just an easier way to nurse.

"They're beautiful, Hinata." Sasuke whispers as he licks his Mate's cheek and looks down at their three beautiful cubs.

There were three of them. Two had the tawny fur of their mother and his eyes. The final one had Hinata's eyes and his black fur. The black furred one was female. The largest tawny cub was male and the smallest cub was a tawny female.

"Yes, they are." She says, beaming with pride as she returns her Mate's affectionate gestures.

Tsunade smiles. They were speaking in their native tongue. She wasn't exactly sure what they were saying, but some things were universal. They were proud parents. That much was obvious.

"The other lioness has delivered!" Tobirama calls out and the busty blonde was swiftly at his side.

Izumi had given birth to two black furred males with her chocolate brown eyes. She calls out for her Mate. That was when Itachi came barreling inside the room in his lion form.

He might have been a lion neko, but at that moment he resembled a cheetah in speed. Even Hashirama blinks in surprise. He didn't know that lions could move that quickly.

"Are you alright,, my love?" Itachi asks.

"I'm fine. Our cubs are here." Izumi says as she nuzzles her Mate.

Itachi smiles and looks down at the furballs. They were truly adorable. For Itachi, it was love at first sight.

"They're perfect in every way, just like their mother." He praises her.

It didn't take long for Mei to give birth to her cub. The leopard only had one cub. She figured that her body had decided just to produce one single healthy cub, instead of risking having multiple potentially unhealthy ones. She had been under far too much stress in this place.

She might have only had one cub, but to her it was the most adorable one in the world. It had Gaara's reddish fur and her eyes. It was a boy.

"It looks like we have another one here. One leopard cub. Male. I'll inform the father." Kakashi says as he walks outside the delivery room and finds Gaara.

"Your Mate just had her cub. They're both fine. You may see them now, if you wish." He says.

Just like that, the leopard darts into the room. Immediately, he dashes over to his Mate and looks at her in concern. He sighs in relief when he discovered that Mei was perfectly fine and so was their cub.

"He's wonderful." Gaara says as he licks her face.

"Yes. He takes after his father that way." Mei says smugly as she nurses the cub.

Tsunade sighs as she watches the scene. They were still all speaking their Native Language,, but she figured that was by preference. Most of them now could carry on simple conversations in English.

"Come on. I think that we should grant them some privacy. This is a rather special day for all of them." The human woman says as she leads her colleagues out of the room.

The others nod and follow her. She was right. Clearly, these animals were capable of feeling human emotions.

Once the humans were gone, Sasuke lets out a roar. The roar that told the others that they could come inside and met the cubs. It didn't take long for the other nekos to do exactly that.

"Oh, Hinata. They're beautiful." Hiashi says as he walks over to his daughter's side and examines his grandchildren.

"They're so cute, big sister!" Hanabi adds and Hinata smiles.

She was very proud of her three adorable cubs. She just wished that she hadn't had them so far away from home. These cubs might never know their ancestral land and that saddened her.

"Thank you." She says with a wistful smile.

The leopards were also greeting their new relative. Kankuro and Temari were quite pleased to meet their nephew. He was so adorable.

"Oh yeah. He's definitely Gaara's kid. Just look at that fur." Kankuro says and Temari rolls her eyes good-naturedly.

She couldn't exactly argue with the accuracy of that assessment. Still she felt like something more profound was called for in a situation like this. Unfortunately, Temari didn't know what that might be.

"Thank you."" Gaara replies in amusement.

"He's the most adorable little cub ever. Isn't he?" Mei inquires proudly.

"Yes, he is." Temari agrees, deciding that was a suitable response for the moment. (She'd think of something more profound later!)

Mei nods smugly. Her cub was adorable and that was that. She smiles and nurses the little furball and cuddles to Gaara. All was right in her world at that moment.

Meanwhile the humans were in the break room. Tsunade pours herself a cup of coffee and sighs. It wasn't right.

"They're too human. We're essentially holding them prisoner and they haven't committed any real crimes." She says.

"It does make me feel uncomfortable. They can speak English now to a degree. They certainly act like a family." Hashirama agrees.

"What are you suggesting?" Tobirama says.

He wasn't entirely certain that he cared for where this was going. They could release them and destroy the research they had filed away on them, but that wouldn't protect hem.

Sooner or later, someone was going to find them. That someone might not be as "nice" as they were. They'd probably shoot them or sell them to the highest bidder.

"If we send them back, they'll be discovered eventually. I have no idea how they managed to stay hidden for this long, but that won't last in the modern era and we all know it." He says sadly.

He hated being the bad guy. Tobirama didn't relish his role as the most practical out of all of them. Still he knew that it needed to be said.

"That's true." Tsunade reluctantly admits.

"We could relocate them to a preserve and make the announcement. That way they'd be protected." Jirayia points out.

Kakashi shakes his head. That idea was tempting, but that might not work either. Curious tourists and poachers hoping to make a name for themselves, would flock there. Even with governmental protection, it wasn't a sure thing.

"People would come looking for them." He points out.

"Perhaps a compromise might be in order." Jirayia suggests and immediately the other scientists all turn their attention towards him.

"What do you have in mind?" Tsunade asks.

Meanwhile back on the Savannah, the government had already sent another team to search more hybrids. That's when one of them discovers the Uchiha Pride.

"Look!" He says as he points to a beautiful woman with lion ears and a matching tail.

She was eating next to a man who also possessed some feline features. They were in the middle of a lion pride, but seemed to have no fear. These must have been the hybrids that they had heard about.

"Dart them!" His companion says.

Fugaku, Mikoto, and the rest of the Uchihas never saw it coming. Soon the darts were flying. The Mated Pair transform into lions once they feel the darts sink into their hides and give mighty roars of fury.

The two of them tried to charge at their attackers,, but that didn't end so well for them. The effects of the tranquilizers quickly spread through their system thanks to their running and they soon fainted. The researchers could only sigh in relief at this development.

"Alright. Let's load them and get them back to the States as soon as we can. We should keep looking though. Somehow, I doubt that leopards and lions are the only types of hybrids out there." Utakata says.

"You're right. I'd be surprised, if there were only two species." Haku agrees as they begin the laborious process of transporting the lions off and he radios the rest of the team.

"We've captured at least two lion hybrids. We also captured some lions. We believe they are also hybrids, but were in their animal forms. We're getting ready to send them back to the U.S. We'd like permission to continue looking for other kinds of hybrids though." Hakuu says.

He waits with baited breath for an answer from the government. If they didn't give them permission, they would have to head back. Haku could only hope that they would. This really was the chance of a lifetime.

"Permission granted. Split into two teams. One heads back to the U.S. and the other stays behind to look for more hybrids." The government official replies.

"Thank you. We'll do as you ask." Haku says with a smile as he ends the transmission and the researchers split into two groups.

It was decided that Haku's Team would be the African Team. Utakata's would be the team responsible for transporting the lion's back to the United States. Thus they were the American Team.

"Good luck and stay safe." Utaka says a few minutes later, once everyone had successfully divided up.

"Thanks and same to you!" Haku says as he heads off.

It took several days, but eventually the African Team found more hybrids. Haku was rather stunned at their diversity. There were of course lions and leopards, but they had found far more than just that. There were baboons, African Wild Dogs, crocodiles, a hawk, and even a flamingo. That was just for starters.

"This is incredible." Haku whispers to himself as they discover more and more species.

He couldn't wait to get back to the United States with his findings. These hybrids were going to change the scientific community forever. This was every scientist's dream. They had discovered intelligent life!

Meanwhile back in the U.S., the humans had gathered the hybrids all together. Tsunade smiles as she notices the males were standing next to their respective females and cubs. Yes, some things really were universal.

"We have been pondering your fate at great length." Tobirama begins.

"You're obviously all intelligent. Too intelligent to be considered just animals. Unfortunately, sending you back home isn't really an option. Sooner or later, you would be discovered. Next time, you might be discovered by someone who is less friendly than us." Hashirama continues.

Hiashi felt his blood run cold. They weren't going home. He had no idea what these big eyed humans were going to do to them, but they weren't going home.

He saw all the nekos suddenly look either on the verge of tears or a rage. Hiashi could only hope that they controlled their tempers. They needed to figure out what the big eyed humans were planning. Now was not the time to lose control of themselves!

"What are you planning to do with us?" Sasuke asks suspiciously.

"We would like to announce your presence formally and put you into a research program. We can't really take you back to your native lands. That would leave you vulnerable to other humans finding you later but we can provide you with a new home. One that will be designed to be similar to the one that you left behind." Tsunade explains.

Sasuke blinks. They were going to get out of this strange place and have a new territory? It sounded too good to be true.

"What's the catch? I doubt that you are sincerely just going to release us and leave us alone." Itachi says.

The elder Uchiha brother was coming along quite nicely in his English lessons. Sasuke was a bit jealous really. Still the younger dark lion knew that he also was improving by leaps and bounds.

"There is now catch. Well we would monitor you of course, but mostly you would live your lives without outside interference. This is the best compromise." Kakashi says.

Hinata looks at her Mate uncertainly. Were the big eyed humans telling the truth? Did it matter? It wasn't like they had a choice.

"I think we should accept their offer. This place isn't exactly designed for cubs sand they raise a valid point about our home." Gaara says in their native language.

He wasn't going to speak in English and let the humans hear them debating the matter. No. That would be stupid.

While they were learning English, the reverse wasn't true. The big eyed humans had made no real attempt to learn their language. Gaara was rather grateful for that fact. It awarded them a degree of privacy that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

"I don't necessarily trust them, but Gaara's right." Neji agrees.

There were murmurs of agreement. The new mothers were understandably the most skittish. The research facility wasn't ideal, but they knew that they were safe there. That wasn't necessarily the case in this new territory.

"I agree. I'm not entirely certain this is a good idea, but we don't have many options." Mei says, after thinking about it for awhile.

The humans watch curiously as the hybrids discuss the matter amongst themselves. They were clearly speaking in their own language. None of the scientists had any idea what they were saying, but the topic of their conversation was far from a mystery.

"We have decided that we will all go to this new territory with you."" Hiashi says.

"Ah that's wonderful news."" Kakashi says and then he blinks as he gets a call.

"Hello. This is Kakashi speaking. How may I help you?" He inquires.

Haku sighs in relief on the other end of the line. He was so glad that he got a quick response. It had been an exhausting trip and he couldn't wait to get the hybrids set up and get some badly needed sleep.

"This is Haku. Utakata arrived back in the U.S. a couple of days ago and is having the lion nekos inspected. I have captured many other kinds of hybrids with my team. We will be arriving shortly. I have everything. Hawks, baboons, African Wild Dogs, a crocodile, and even a flamingo. This is going to change everything." The young man says in a rush.

Kakashi blinks. Could that possibly be true? They had discovered several more species of hybrids and were on their way back to the facility with them?

"That's wonderful news! Come as soon as you can! I'll tell the guards to let you in and will have a crew assist your crews." The silver haired man says.

"Wonderful. Thank you." Haku says as he hangs up.

The hybrids look at Kakashi suspiciously. They couldn't hear the other half of that conversation, but clearly something important was going on. One way or another, they were going to find out what.

"That was Haku. It seems he and Utakata have discovered other hybrids. Lots of them. Some are lion nekos, but there are also several other species." He says.

"Oh boy. That means we'll have to try to teach them English as well. We are definitely going to need a large area to house all of them." Tsunade says.

"I believe that I know just the place." Hashirama says with a smile.

Hinata blinks. Other species of hybrids? Oh no! That meant the others had been discovered and they were on their way here.

"It's going to be okay. There is strength in numbers, my love." Sasuke whispers to her.

Hinata nods uncertainly. She really wanted to believe that, but she wasn't entirely certain that would be the case. What was going to happen to them, their friends, and their cubs?!

"I will protect you and our family." Itachi assures Izumi.

Clearly, his Mate was just as skittish as Hinata was on the matter. He couldn't blame her. Izumi was brave, but she wasn't foolish. It would be extremely foolish, not to be concerned.

"We'll stay here for a few days longer. We need to get your new home set up and help the other hybrids adjust." Tobirama explains.

Hiashi nods. That sounded reasonable. He still didn't entirely like this, but their fate really was in the hand of the big eyed humans.

Sighing, he stands closer to Hanabi. He was going to protect his family. No harm would come to them while he was alive!

"Father, do you think that this will really work? Have the big eyed humans decided to be our friends?" Hanabi asks him warily.

"I'm not sure. I know one thing though. We will stand together. That is the meaning of a pride. It's not just about being there for each other during the good times. You also must help each other through the bad times." He says sagely and Hanabi nods in agreement.

Jirayia shakes his head as he surveys the room. It was obvious that the hybrids still didn't completely trust him. He didn't blame them though. In their minds, they had essentially been kidnapped. It was only natural that they would be wary.

"Alright. Haku and Utakata should be arriving soon. So we had best get ready. It's going to be a busy few days." He muses as he heads off with the other humans.

Hinata and the other pregnant females whine as they go back to nursing their cubs. Their instincts were screaming at them to grab their cubs and hide. Unfortunately, there was no place to hide.

"It will be alright." Gaara assures his Mate.

This was his first liter. He was going to protect his son with his life. Gaara was also going to protect Mei. He didn't know what the big eyed humans were really planning, but he knew that much.

"I love you." Mei tells him.

"I love you too and I love our cub. Nothing is going to happen to either of you. I swear it." He promises and Mei smiles.

She had chosen well. Gaara was young, but he was a dedicated Mate. He was also strong and smart. Somehow, they would find a way through this. She just wasn't sure exactly how yet,, but they would.

"It seems that we will be getting a new territory soon. I want everyone to rest up. We have no idea what our new home will be like and we need to be at our strongest!" Hiashi informs the others.

The others murmur their agreement. Hiashi was right. They had no idea what was going to happen next. It would be wise to prepare for the worst.

Sasuke sighs as he looks down at his three adorable cubs. He didn't like the fact that their fate was essentially out of his paws. He was still going to do his best to protect Hinata and their cubs though.

"They're lucky in a way. They have no idea what's going on." Sasuke whispers to Hinata.

"I know. We'll find a way to keep them safe though." The lioness promises him and Sasuke could only hope that his Mate would be proven right.


	17. Chapter 17

The Huntress

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter of **The Huntress**. If you are interested, feel free to check out my other stories.

Chapter 17

A few days later and the hybrids were now all on a previously abandoned ranch in Wyoming. The scientists had chosen it because it was fairly remote and private property. That and it was large.

It was large enough for the hybrids to roam free in their animal forms. The scientists were still working on making it a more complicate replica of the Savannah, but the climate should be manageable for them. It was the summer after all.

"And this is all ours?" Sasuke asks Tobirama.

"Yes, it's all yours. Now we have special collars and wristbands on you. The wrist band has a camera on it. There are three buttons. The red means no filming. That's generally for more…private moments. The yellow button means filming, but no sound. That's a private conversation. Finally, green means you are consenting to be watched and heard. Ideally, we would like at least one hour of green per day for observation purposes." He explains.

Sasuke frowns as he considers it. They could mostly have privacy. He wasn't entirely thrilled about being watched, but the big eyed humans were giving them a new home.

A home where their cubs could run around a play. A home where they could learn how to hunt and be more than "lab rats." He could put up with this mild inconvenience. As Sasuke glances around, he could see that his fellow hybrids mostly felt the same way. They could make this work.

"That's agreeable. Hinata, what is THAT and why are our cubs in it?" Sasuke asks.

Hinata had changed back to her human form, after a few days. She was now pushing some strange object that had their three cubs inside it. They're mostly human looking cubs. (Well save for their lion ears and tails.)

"Tsunade calls it a stroller. She says it's a useful way to move the cubs. The little top on it provides shade from the Sun and it's a lot easier than carrying them one at a time in my mouth." She tells him.

Sasuke wasn't entirely certain how he felt about using "human magic." He quickly walks over and looks into the stroller. Their children were all sleeping peacefully inside. He smiles at them and decides it was safe.

"Alright. Well I want you to be comfortable. If the stroller helps, we'll keep it." Sasuke says as he kisses his Mate's forehead.

Sasuke wasn't the only new father that was doing some stroller inspection. Gaara and Itachi also had some reservations. Though they seemed to draw the same conclusion as Sasuke after awhile.

"What do you think of this place?" Gaara asks his Mate as he strokes Mei's cheek affectionately.

"It seems nice. I like the fact that there are lots of trees we can climb." She observes and Gaara nods in agreement.

Itachi looks around. Well it wasn't the Savannah, but it was certainly better than the lab. They could be happy here.

"What do you think, My Love?" He whispers to Izumi.

"I think that it's a good territory. We should probably explore it some more though and I need to find a safe place to feed our cubs." She mumbles.

Meanwhile a few hundred yards away, Naruto perks up. He could see them! He could hear them! The nekos were here!

"I think I see them! It's Sasuke and the others!" He cries out joyfully.

"Oh thank goodness." Mikoto says as she and Fugaku charge over towards their sons.

Kisame blinks. Well he knew that the two lion nekos missed their children, but he didn't know that lions could be that fast. Not that lions were slow animals, but that was almost as fast as a cheetah.

"Well I guess that's our clue to go and welcome them." The crocodile says as he transforms into his human form and dashes off.

It was just easier moving as a human here. When he was in the water, he was master of his domain. When he was on land, Kisame felt slow and clumsy. His human form was better at walking than his crocodile one and that was just that.

Naruto didn't waste any time. He quickly follows the mated pair of lions, much to Karin's chagrin. The red head was muttering some rather unflattering things under her breath as she pursues her Mate. Honestly, would it kill him to be a little more patient?

"Jugo?" Sakura asks the large man, who was currently in his animal form.

"Sure. I don't mind giving you a ride." Jugo says as scoops up the pink flamingo and heads towards the others with her in his armrs.

"Hey! Wait up!" Suigetsu says and chases off after the others.

The humans could only stand back and watch in awe. The reunion was nothing short of joyous. It was also chaotic. Some of the hybrids were in their animal forms and others were in their human forms. That and it was so LOUD!

"I should have brought us all earplugs." Tsunade groans as she rubs her temples.

"That would have been a good idea." Hashirama observes in a cheerful tone.

Tobirama just shakes his head in amusement. His ears hurt, but that was besides the point. There was just something incredibly heartwarming about the scene.

"My babies! Are you alright?!" Mikoto asks her children.

"Yes, mother. We're fine. We also have to introduce you to a few people." Itachi says proudly.

He gestures for Fugaku and Mikoto to come closer to the stroller and his Mate. Itachi instructs them to look inside and they gasp. Inside were two babies with black hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"She managed to successfully carry her pregnancy while living with big eyed humans?" Fugaku observes in wonder.

"Yes, she did. My Mate is amazing. Is she not?" Itachi asks smugly.

"Yes, she is. Oh Itachi. They're beautiful." Mikoto says with a smile as she admires her grandchildren.

Itachi nods in agreement. He was very proud of his cubs and Mate. It hadn't been easy on any of them for the cubs to be born in captivity.

"Mother! Father!" Sasuke calls out joyously.

"Oh Sasuke!" Mikoto says with a smile.

` "We have a few people to introduce you too as well." Hinata says shyly as she leans back against her Mate.

Mikoto and Fugaku blink. They murmur apologies to Itachi and Izumi and walk over to the other couple. Sasuke instructs them to look into their stroller.

"Three? Three cubs? Well that makes five new Uchihas." Fugaku says smugly and Sasuke nods.

"They were born before Itachi's cubs by a few minutes." Sasuke says as he gives Itachi a cocky smirk.

"Foolish little brother. It's not as if a few minutes makes any difference to their development." Itachi retorts defensively.

Oh Sasuke knew that. That didn't mean that he was ever going to let Itachi live it down. Oh this was going to be fun!

"Wow. That's a lot of cubs." Naruto says, once he ambles over.

At the moment, he was looking at Gaara's and Mei's son. He smiles. The little red head was the cutest thing ever. Though he certainly had his mother's eyes.

"Mhm." Mei agrees, smiling when Temari and Kankuro were soon at the new family's side.

"He's really cute, Gaara." Kankuro offers.

"Of course, he is." Gaara replies smugly.

He might have only had one cub, but he was a big cub. Gaara was certain that he would survive. His son would thrive, even though he was far away from the land of his ancestors.

"Sasuke, you sly dog. I mean sly lion. Three cubs?" Suigetsu demands, once he had made his way over to his friend.

"That's right. Three. Itachi has two." Sasuke says with a smirk.

Hinata shakes her head in amusement. She couldn't believe that her Mate was being so competitive over cubs. She didn't know whether to find it adorable or disturbing.

"Well they are pretty cute, but don't run off like that again." Karin growls at Naruto in annoyance.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just got excited." He apologizes.

"He is so whipped." Suigetsu whispers to Sasuke who just nods.

He was grateful that his huntress wasn't nearly as bossy as Karin. Sasuke knew that he probably would have gone insane, if that had been the case. Fortunately for him, Hinata was kind and sweet. (Unless you were a Wildebeest or some other type of prey animal, then she would rip your throat out.)

"Well it looks like this will be a fine place for us to call home." Hiashi says.

"I'm glad that you feel that way. We will need to take a few hybrids with us to show the public. We have to make the announcement. We won't disclose your location to the public, but we have to let them know. This way, people will know not to hurt you or your family. Well not unless they want to pay a price." Jirayia informs him.

Hiashi sighs and nods. That was only fair. Hmm. Which ones to send though? Obviously, they couldn't send any of the mothers and the fathers would want to stay. That limited their choices.

"I will go." Hiashi replies, after debating the matter for a moment or two internally.

Hinata had Sasuke now. There were many pride males that could protect his children, if worse came to worse. He had lived a full life, it made sense for him to volunteer.

"I will go as well." Fugaku decrees and Mikoto shakes her head.

"No. We have lost so much time with our sons and I'm not going to risk losing you. You have grandchildren that you should get to know. I forbid it." The lioness decrees.

Fugaku raises an eyebrow. He wanted to argue, but he knew it was pointless. Once Mikoto Uchiha made up her mind about something, that was that.

"Very well." He reluctantly concedes to his Mate's wishes.

Hanabi was going to volunteer, but Hiashi covered her mouth. That was something that would be completely unacceptable. They had no way of knowing how the humans were going to react to them. He wasn't sending his youngest cub into such a dangerous situation like this!

"Well I'm definitely going. Sounds like it will be a real adventure." Kisame says with a grin.

The debate continued for several minutes. In the end, it was decided that Hiashi, Kisame, Suigetsu, Jugo, Sakura, and Temari would go. The reasoning was that the more species they displayed, the less likely humans would be to attack. They had to give the impression of being numerous.

"Well that was easier than expected. Come on. We'll get you guys gussied up and then head off." Kakashi offers kindly.

A few hours later, the selected hybrids were dressed to impress and made their way to state capital. While Wyoming might have been rural state without that many people, the Internet and television could reach almost anywhere. So the researchers didn't feel that it mattered where they unveiled the existence of hybrids.

"Attention please. We have an important scientific announcement to make. This is going to come as a shock. Please do try to remain calm. We have discovered intelligent life. Beings with human intelligence, that can change their form. They are known as hybrids." Kakashi begins at the news station.

Immediately whispers started. Kakashi knew that they likely all thought he was nuts. Maybe a few of them believed him. He couldn't tell. It didn't matter. He'd prove it.

"Hybrids are a diverse group. There are people who can turn into lions or leopards, but there are also other kinds. Flamingos, hawks, crocodiles, baboons,, and African Wild Dogs to name a few." Jirayia adds helpfully.

Tsunade fond herself rather grateful that everyone who came into this building was searched or weapons. At the very least, she knew that no one was going to try to shoot the hybrids. That didn't mean that this would end well though.

"They are not violent and we have been teaching them English. Please do understand that they are still learning though. They might not fully understand everything you say or be able to effectively articulate their thoughts completely clearly." Tobirama adds.

"And now we shall introduce you to just some of the hybrids that we found." Hashirama chimes in helpfully.

With that being said, Jirayia gestures for the hybrids to come out. There were gasps and everyone stared in awe. Thankfully, they were all in their human forms at the moment. So thankfully, it wasn't too dramatic yet.

"Sakura, is a flamingo hybrid. I believe her transformation will be the most convenient for demonstrative purposes." Tsunade says.

Sakura nods. It was amazing. Before their very eyes, the pink haired woman turned into a flamingo. Stunned silence followed.

"We've been teaching them English as we said. They tend to be remarkably bright. Unfortunately, they aren't fully fluent yet. Because they have human intelligence, we are petitioning the government to give them human rights. Anyone who attacks a hybrid, will be prosecuted as if they are attacking another human." Tobirama warns them.

There were murmurs and nods of confirmation. Everyone was far too stunned to protest that announcement. Tobirama sighs in relief, once he realizes that. It didn't look like anyone was going to be stupid enough to attack.

"We are taking them to an undisclosed location for now for their safety. A website will be put up with all the information about hybrids that is unclassified, for the public to explore at their leisure. We will be monitoring their behavior for scientific purposes. Other than that, I think it's time to go." Kakashi says.

There were protests. People wanted to see the forms of the other hybrids. They had questions. It was a tease!

Jirayia sighs as he sees that the hybrids were getting a bit anxious. This wasn't going to end well, if they didn't take immediate action. It looked like it was going to fall to him to do so.

"QUIET! If you do not allow us to leave, we shall contact the government and have you put in prison. These hybrids are now under the government's protection." He thunders at them.

The sight of an old man bellowing at them so authoritatively, snapped them out of their protests. Jirayia smirks as they were allowed to leave and quickly help the hybrids back into the limo that they had secured for them. That was better.

"I quite like the limo. It's most convenient." Hiashi offers.

"Everyone loves a limo." Tsunade agrees with a giggle.

It didn't take them long to arrive back at the ranch. They helped the hybrids out of the limo and they all took off to find their respective friends and family members. Well all of them, save for Hiashi.

"Do you think that this will work? Will the other humans accept us?" He asks.

"I'm not going to lie to you. At the moment, I can't honestly answer your question. The website has been set up. Comments are allowed. That will be a good way to check the initial reaction. In some ways, it doesn't matter though. You'll all be safe here." Hashirama assures him.

"I see. What is a website?" Hiashi asks in confusion and the scientists just laugh.

"Oh you have a lot to learn." Kakashi says with a chuckle.

Meanwhile Sasuke smiles as he prowls around their new territory in his animal form with his Mate and cubs. Well the cubs were mostly stumbling around. They couldn't move much yet, but he and Hinata were helping them.

"This place is so big." Hinata says as she watches the cubs play in the tall grass.

"Yes,, it is. I've been talking to Gaara. He says that we can grow food here. Plants. He wants to grow strawberries. You remember strawberries at the lab?" He asks.

"Oh yes. I like strawberries. I hope that hunting will be good though." She muses.

Sasuke nods. He did too. He assumed that it would be. The humans wouldn't go through all this trouble to keep them alive, only to give them a bad territory. Would they?

"Rawr!" One of his children says.

Sasuke smiles and cleans them. Their cubs were absolutely adorable. It didn't matter whether they were in their human or animal forms. They were his pride and joy.

The cubs snuggle into their mother and father. They were nice and warm. That and they were sturdy. They didn't tumble over as much when they leaned on their parents.

"I love you." Hinata tells Sasuke as she licks his cheek.

"I love you too, my beautiful huntress." Sasuke replies as he returns the affectionate gesture.

On the other side of the ranch, Gaara was exploring with his family. The leopard had found a barn and decides that would be a good place to stay for the night. He smiles and carries his son into the barn by the scrap of his neck. All of the leopards were in their animal forms.

"This will do very nicely. It's even better than the cave." Mei observes and Gaara nods in agreement, once he sets their son down.

The older leopard lays down by her son and proceeds to nurse him. While she was doing that, Kankuro and Temari look around the barn. This was nice. This would definitely protect them from monsoons.

Elsewhere on the ranch, Mikoto and Fugaku had found a nice pond on the property and were swimming around. Kisame was also enjoying the pond. That didn't bother them though. He seemed to be a friendly crocodile.

"The furballs are too cute." Kisame mutters as he glances several feet away.

Itachi and Izumi were trying to teach their cubs how to walk without falling over so much. The proud parents weren't having much success, but their eyes were shinning with happiness.

"Yes, they are." Mikoto says with a smile.

"I suppose at least the male cubs won't have to be driven off, once they reach maturity now." Fugaku observes thoughtfully.

"Good. I always hated that tradition. I understood why it had to be done, but I still didn't like it." She grumbles.

Fugaku chuckles and fluffs his beautiful Mate. She really was such an overprotective mother sometimes. It was one of her most endearing qualities really. (Well that and she still did look VERY nice in her zebra dress.)

"I know you didn't. Things will be different now though." He promises.

At that same moment Jugo flies over the ranch and smiles. This was a big territory. It should suit all of their needs just fine. He could see everything from up here. All the happy new families and even Suigetsu getting into all sorts of mischief.

"Home." He says simply.

Later that night, all of the hybrids were taken inside one of the houses on the property. The big eyed humans wanted to tell them something important. That and apparently they had apparently made a massive feast for everyone to enjoy, while they told them the news.

"Well the initial reactions are pouring in. Most of them have been positive or curious. Of course, there are a few disturbing reactions. You can't please everyone." Kakashi says.

"I just want to know if our families are going to be safe." Fugaku says simply.

"You'll be safe on the ranch. I think that you would largely be safe outside of it as well." Jirayia offers.

Sasuke frowns. He could certainly read between the lines. Not all big eyed humans were going to be as friendly as these ones. Danzo came to mind.

He was still proud that he had torn that man's head off. How dare he hurt Hinata? His only regret was that he didn't make him suffer more.

"We'd probably be safe outside of our territory, but you wouldn't recommend us leaving here." Sasuke says bluntly.

"That's accurate." Tsunade admits with a sigh.

The other hybrids look at each other. Well it didn't really matter what happened outside of their territory. As long as they were safe here and had plenty of food and water, they didn't need to worry about the rest of the world.

"That's fine. Though I do have some concerns about hunting." Mei says.

"You no longer need to hunt. We can bring in more food like this. We'll teach you how to use a kitchen to cook it, if you like." Hashirama says cheerfully. "I'm not against learning how to cook, but I prefer hunting. It's important to be able to feed yourself." Hinata says and Sasuke nods approvingly.

That was his Mate. She really was such a huntress. She was also right. The humans were being nice now, but that didn't meant that they were always going to be that way.

What if one day, they stopped feeding them? By that time, they would have grown soft. They might not be able to hunt for themselves. The hybrids knew that they couldn't allow that to happen.

"Very well. We'll have animals brought in for you to hunt. You can make a list of acceptable prey items." Tobirama offers and there were murmurs of approval from the various predator type hybrids at the table.

"Are we going to teach the cubs English?" Sakura asks.

Sasuke pauses as he considers that question. He didn't really like the idea of his cubs speaking the big eyed humans' language, but it was just more practical.

"Hinata?" He asks softly and Sasuke notices that the other new parents were having similar discussions.

"It couldn't hurt. They won't be able to protect themselves, if they don't know what is going on." she mumbles.

Sasuke nods. That was a good point. Sighing, he nods his head in answer to Sakura's question.

"Yes, they'll learn English." Sasuke says simply.

"Wonderful. I think that this is the start of a new era between humans and hybrids. May it end more happily than the last one." Jirayia says as he raises a toast.

The others chorus their agreement and clink their classes. Inside the glasses was something called wine. Sasuke liked wine. He liked the way it made Hinata frisky even more though.

"It's been a long day. Let's get the cubs to bed and get some sleep." Itachi says and the other hybrids proceed to do exactly that.

Sasuke smiles a few minutes later, once he was alone with Hinata in their room. He was still getting used the concept of a bedroom, but he did like beds. (He especially liked them when Hinata was on them.)

"It's nice here." She says.

"Very nice." Sasuke says in agreement as he kisses her forehead.

""I think our cubs will thrive here." The lioness neko says.

Sasuke couldn't exactly disagree. It was a large territory and food was plentiful. There was really no reason why their liter wouldn't make it to maturity.

"I think so too. Want to practice for our next liter?" Sasuke asks with a smirk and Hinata giggles as she wraps her arms around his neck.

"You're bad." She tells him.

"Maybe, but you're my beautiful huntress and I know that you secretly it." Sasuke replies.

Hinata shakes her head in amusement and smiles. She really did love her Mate and their cubs. The bluenette was almost positive that it wouldn't take them long to have a second litter. Sasuke did seem to enjoy siring cubs.

"It's a nice bed, but I'll doubt we'll get much sleep tonight."" She says slyly.

"You read my mind." Sasuke says with a smirk and he locks the door.

The two lovers spent the rest of the night in each other's arms. Hinata was right. The lions didn't get any sleep that night, but the bed was put to good use all the same.


End file.
